Scientists reveal the perfect way to apologise

Scientists reveal the perfect way to apologise

科學家揭秘最完美的道歉方式

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.

英國著名音樂家愛爾頓·約翰曾唱到，對不起是最難說出的話。不過現在，科學家研究出最完美的道歉方式，而且遠不止"對不起"這麼簡單。

Based on the findings of a new study, researchers said there are six key elements 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 fault and offering to repair the damage when making an apology, according to Ohio State University researchers.

俄亥俄州立大學一項新的研究成果提出了道歉的六大關鍵因素，讓道歉更真誠，更能被對方接受。其中最關鍵的兩點，就是承認錯誤，並主動提出彌補傷害。

The study looked at how 755 volunteers reacted to apologies that contained some or all of the six key elements in two separate parts.

該研究將755名志願者分成兩組，分別觀察他們面對全部或部分包含六大關鍵因素的道歉時做出的反應。

The first part involved 333 adults acting out a fictional scenario where they were an accounting department manager interviewing a potential employee. The applicant had filed an incorrect tax return during their previous work but when asked during the fake interview about it, they apologised. The adults involved in the study then had to rate different apologies which contained one, three or all of the sorry elements listed above. The scale was between one (not at all) and five (very).

第一組的333名成年人扮演正在面試求職者的會計部門經理。面試過程中，求職者將為自己曾在工作中填錯了報稅單而道歉。求職者的道歉中將包含上述的一種、三種或全部道歉的關鍵因素。這時，"部門經理"們就要為求職者的道歉打分，1表示不滿意，5表示很滿意，從1分到5分，程度遞增。

In the second part of the research, 422 undergraduates had the same scenario but this time they did not know what elements were within the apologies and had to rate it in a similar fashion.

面對同樣的場景，第二組的422名大學生也要給這些道歉打分，不同的是他們並不知道這六大因素的存在。

The results were not exactly the same, but very similar, researchers said, and those apologies that contained more of the elements were rated higher than others.

兩組的結果沒有完全一致，但非常接近，都表明道歉中包含的關鍵因素越多，分數就越高。

"Apologies really do work, but you should make sure you hit as many of the six key components as possible," said Roy Lewicki, from the university's Fisher College of Business.

俄亥俄州立大學費舍爾商學院的羅伊·路維其教授是這項研究的發起者，他表示"道歉雖然管用，但要盡可能多的包含這六大因素。"

"Our findings showed that the most important component is an acknowledgement of responsibility," Mr Lewicki, who led the study, said. "Say it is your fault, that you made a mistake."

"研究結果顯示，人們最看重的是承擔責任。如果原因在你，那就主動承認錯誤。"

He added that an offer of repair was crucial because "one concern about apologies is that talk is cheap". But by offering to fix the damage, "you're committing to take action to undo the damage", he said.

另外，主動提出彌補傷害也是十分關鍵的因素。路維其教授認為，人們總覺得口頭認錯並不走心，而提出解決方案，降低錯誤造成的損失，這才是將道歉付諸行動的做法。