Apology mismatch : An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea

Victoria Wai Lan YEUNG; Roman DAVID

doi:10.1111/ajsp.12559

Apology mismatch : An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea

Victoria Wai Lan YEUNG^*, Roman DAVID

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	301-317
Number of pages	17
Journal	Asian Journal of Social Psychology
Volume	26
Issue number	3
Early online date	28 Oct 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12559
Publication status	Published - Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

All procedures performed in the reported studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the research ethics committee of Lingnan University.

We thank Professor Jeongwon Park for insightful discussion, Mr. Tam Pui Cheun for providing research assistance, Mr. Eric Kension Yau for editorial assistance, Dr. Kelvin F. H. Lui for providing statistical advice, and Ms. Suyeon Lim, Ms. Jiyoon Kim, and Ms. Hyojin Kim for English-Korean translation and validation.

Funding

The research was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council, General Research Fund (13643616) and the Lingnan University internal Direct Grant (DR16A5/101061) given to the second author.

Keywords

apology
experiment
Japan
Korea

Access to Document

10.1111/ajsp.12559

Cite this

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title = "Apology mismatch : An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea",

abstract = "Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality.",

keywords = "apology, experiment, Japan, Korea",

author = "YEUNG, {Victoria Wai Lan} and Roman DAVID",

note = "All procedures performed in the reported studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the research ethics committee of Lingnan University. We thank Professor Jeongwon Park for insightful discussion, Mr. Tam Pui Cheun for providing research assistance, Mr. Eric Kension Yau for editorial assistance, Dr. Kelvin F. H. Lui for providing statistical advice, and Ms. Suyeon Lim, Ms. Jiyoon Kim, and Ms. Hyojin Kim for English-Korean translation and validation.",

year = "2023",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1111/ajsp.12559",

language = "English",

volume = "26",

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journal = "Asian Journal of Social Psychology",

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AU - YEUNG, Victoria Wai Lan

AU - DAVID, Roman

N1 - All procedures performed in the reported studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the research ethics committee of Lingnan University. We thank Professor Jeongwon Park for insightful discussion, Mr. Tam Pui Cheun for providing research assistance, Mr. Eric Kension Yau for editorial assistance, Dr. Kelvin F. H. Lui for providing statistical advice, and Ms. Suyeon Lim, Ms. Jiyoon Kim, and Ms. Hyojin Kim for English-Korean translation and validation.

PY - 2023/9

Y1 - 2023/9

N2 - Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality.

AB - Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality.

KW - apology

KW - experiment

KW - Japan

KW - Korea

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DO - 10.1111/ajsp.12559

M3 - Journal Article (refereed)

SN - 1367-2223

VL - 26

SP - 301

EP - 317

JO - Asian Journal of Social Psychology

JF - Asian Journal of Social Psychology

IS - 3

ER -

Apology mismatch : An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Historical Justice and Reconciliation: Dealing with Japan's Occupation in Korea (歷史正義與和解：處理與日本的職業在韓國)

Apologies and Denials: Dealing with Japan's Occupation in Korea

[WHY] Why do Koreans think Japan isn’t sorry?

[WHY] Why do Koreans think Japan isn’t sorry?

Cite this

Apology mismatch : An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Historical Justice and Reconciliation: Dealing with Japan's Occupation in Korea (歷史正義與和解：處理與日本的職業在韓國)

Apologies and Denials: Dealing with Japan's Occupation in Korea

Press/Media

[WHY] Why do Koreans think Japan isn’t sorry?

[WHY] Why do Koreans think Japan isn’t sorry?

Cite this