Undoing Regret on Dutch Television: Apologizing for Interpersonal Regrets Involving Actions or Inactions

Abstract

In a series of studies, the authors examined apology as a means of undoing interpersonal regrets. In the first study, 63 cases from a Dutch television show called I. Am Sorry were coded on two dimensions. This show provides people with the opportunity to undo regrets arising in social relationships. The results show that people are more likely to undo interpersonal regrets by apologizing when these regrets stem from action than when they stem from a failure to act. Results also show that the time between the occurrence of the regretted interpersonal event and the apology is longer for failures to act than for actions. Both findings are replicated in a series of large-scale surveys using a representative sample of the Dutch adult population. The findings are discussed in relation to Gilovich and Medvec's hypothesis concerning the temporal pattern of the experience of regret.