Apologies for Brexit and smoking: Experiments on an inference-based model of remorse, suffering and responsibility-taking

Members of victimized groups have varied reactions to wrongdoer group members who express emotions such as regret, guilt, or sadness to indicate remorse. We propose that such emotions communicate two things to the wronged: wrongdoers’ degree of suffering over the misdeed, and their responsibility-taking for it. These inferences, in turn, can contribute to the perceived sincerity of emotional expressions, which explain more positive reactions. We tested our inference-based model in three experiments among non-smokers who read a smoker’s statement regarding health damage and EU nationals (Dutch and Germans) who evaluated a Briton’s statement about the consequences of Brexit, with varying emotional expressions. The two inferences were instrumental in distinguishing emotional from indifference (Experiment 1) or unemotional apology statements (Experiments 2-3). Looking at the downstream consequences, all three experiments supported our inference-based model: suffering and responsibility-taking were independently related to perceived sincerity, which was associated with positive reactions to emotional expressions.