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Rethinking Apology in Tort Litigation Deficiencies in Comprehensiveness Undermine Remedial Effectiveness

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  • Reinders Folmer Christopher P.

    (Department of Private Law, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam3062 PA, The Netherlands)

  • Mascini Peter

    (Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Leunissen Joost M.

    (School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK)

Abstract

Apologies are assumed to be an effective pathway to the restoration of victims of torts. Accordingly, initiatives to facilitate their provision in legal contexts are currently being advocated. A crucial question, however, is whether the apologies that perpetrators provide in these contexts may live up to such expectations. Do perpetrators’ apologies in response to torts convey the content that victims desire, and how may this affect their remedial effectiveness? The present research examined what content victims desire, and perpetrators provide in apology in response to personal injury incidents. In two studies, we demonstrate that (a) perpetrators provide less comprehensive apologies than victims desire, and (b) their apologies thereby are less effective at restoring them. These differences were explained by their differing perception of torts, such that perpetrators regard their transgressions as less severe and intentional, and themselves as less blameworthy than victims do, and consequently offer less comprehensive apologies than victims desire. Therefore, subjectiveness in victims’ and perpetrators’ perception of torts may undermine the remedial effectiveness of legal apology.

Suggested Citation

  • Reinders Folmer Christopher P. & Mascini Peter & Leunissen Joost M., 2019. "Rethinking Apology in Tort Litigation Deficiencies in Comprehensiveness Undermine Remedial Effectiveness," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 1-27, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:rlecon:v:15:y:2019:i:1:p:27:n:7
    DOI: 10.1515/rle-2018-0042
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Choi, Jung Jin & Severson, Margaret, 2009. ""What! What kind of apology is this?": The nature of apology in victim offender mediation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 813-820, July.
    2. Fehr, Ryan & Gelfand, Michele J., 2010. "When apologies work: How matching apology components to victims' self-construals facilitates forgiveness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 37-50, September.
    3. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
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