Scientists reveal the perfect way to apologize
Elton John once sang that sorry seemed to be hardest word but now scientists have found that the perfect apology requires more than just the word 'sorry' itself.
36 on the findings of a new study, researchers said there are six key 37 to make one's apology more sincere and easy to accept with two being very critical in ensuring acceptance. They are accepting one's own 38 and offering to repair the damage when making an apology, according to Ohio State University researchers.
The study 39 how 755 volunteers reacted to apologies that contained some or all of the six key elements in two separate parts.
The first part involved 333 adults acting out a fictional scenario where they were an accounting department manager interviewing a 40 employee. The 41 had filed an incorrect tax return during their 42 work but when asked during the fake interview about it, they apologized. The adults 43 in the study then had to 44 different apologies which contained one, three or all of the sorry elements listed above. The 45 was between one (not at all) and five (very).
In the second part of the research, 422 undergraduates had the same scenario but this time they did not know what elements were 46 the apologies and had to rate it in a 47 fashion.
The results were not 48 the same, but very similar, researchers said, and those apologies that contained more of the elements were rated 49 than others.
"Apologies really do 50 , but you should make sure you 51 as many of the six key components as possible," said Roy Lewicki, from the university's Fisher College of Business.
"Our findings showed that the most important component is an acknowledgement of 52 ," Mr Lewicki, who led the study, said. "Say it is your fault, that you made a mistake."
He 53 that an offer of repair was crucial because "one concern about apologies is that talk is 54 ". But by offering to fix the damage, "you're committing to take action to 55 the damage", he said.
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37 | A | elements | B | problems | C | reasons | D | matters |
38 | A | weakness | B | fault | C | failure | D | fame |
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43 | A | involved | B | working | C | joining | D | buried |
44 | A | divide | B | rate | C | analyze | D | relate |
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50 | A | act | B | help | C | achieve | D | work |
51 | A | meet | B | hit | C | beat | D | understand |
52 | A | responsibility | B | ability | C | possibility | D | anticipation |
53 | A | warned | B | added | C | addressed | D | answered |
54 | A | important | B | simple | C | cheap | D | expensive |
55 | A | do | B | rid | C | remove | D | undo |
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