What is it about?
This study provides preliminary evidence on the relative value of apology and compensation in tort litigation. It suggests that apologies can fulfill important needs of victims (e.g., acceptance of responsibility, acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and retribution) that compensating their losses cannot. However, for resolving their disputes, participants nevertheless based their decisions mainly on how much money they were offered in settlement. This suggests that beliefs about the effectiveness of apology as a catalyst for settlement may be overly optimistic.
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Why is it important?
Victims of torts often indicate that they desire an apology from the offender. Legal reforms seek to address those needs, by making it easier for offenders to apologize. These findings suggest that doing so potentially can make victims more satisfied. Our findings question, however, whether doing so will promote settlement, as legislators seem to hope. The resolution of disputes seems to remain mostly about receiving sufficient compensation.
Perspectives
Apologies have tremendous potential as a remedy for legal disputes. It is crucial to recognize, however, what apologies can, and cannot do within or outside the courtroom. Apologies may fulfill victims in ways that money cannot. But this does not negate the fact that victims continue to desire (what they consider to be) fair compensation for their losses.
Chris Reinders Folmer
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Beyond compensation? Examining the role of apologies in the restoration of victims’ needs in simulated tort cases., Law and Human Behavior, June 2019, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/lhb0000335.
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