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Remorse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remorse is an emotional expression of personal

regret felt by a person after they have committed an
act which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or
violent. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and
self-directed resentment. When a person regrets an
earlier action or failure to act, it may be because of
remorse or in response to various other
consequences, including being punished for the act
or omission. In a legal context, the perceived
remorse of an offender is assessed by Western justice
systems during trials, sentencing, parole hearings,
and in restorative justice. However, it has been
pointed out that epistemological problems arise in
assessing an offender's level of remorse.[1] The Remorse of Orestes (1862), by William-
Adolphe Bouguereau
A person who is incapable of feeling remorse is
often labelled with antisocial personality disorder -
as characterized in the DSM IV-TR. In general, a person needs to be unable to feel fear, as well as
remorse, in order to develop psychopathic traits. Legal and business professions such as insurance
have done research on the expression of remorse via apologies, primarily because of the potential
litigation and financial implications.

Contents
1 Studies on apologizing
2 Falsified expressions
3 Psychopathy
4 Forgiveness
5 Versus self-condemnation
6 Buyer's remorse
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Studies on apologizing

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Two studies on apologising are "The Five Languages of Apology" by Gary Chapman and Jennifer
Thomas[2] and "On Apology" by Aaron Lazare.[3] These studies indicate that effective apologies
that express remorse typically include a detailed account of the offense; acknowledgment of the
hurt or damage done; acceptance of the responsibility for, and ownership of, the act or omission; an
explanation that recognises one's role. As well, apologies usually include a statement or expression
of regret, humility or remorse; a request for forgiveness; and an expression of a credible
commitment to change or a promise that it will not happen again. Apologies may also include some
form of restitution, compensation or token gesture in line with the damage that you caused. John
Kleefeld has encapsulated this into "four Rs" that typically make for a fully effective apology:
remorse, responsibility, resolution and reparation.[4] When an apology is delayed, for instance if a
friend has been wronged and the offending party does not apologise, the perception of the offense
can compound over time. This is sometimes known as compounding remorse. Compunction refers
to the act of actively expressing remorse, usually requiring the remorseful individual to physically
approach the person to whom they are expressing regret.

Falsified expressions
In a study led by Leanne ten Brinke, a professor at the University of British Columbia, participants'
genuine and falsified emotions were studied to investigate behavioral and facial cues. Brinke and
others found a significant difference in the presence of facial expressions in real and false remorse.
With falsified emotions of remorse, they found that the participants experienced a greater range of
emotions, which are close to genuine feelings, while deceptive descriptions of remorse were
associated with positive emotions, such as happiness and surprise.[5] The positive emotions felt by
participants demonstrating a deceptive description of remorse are likely due to the leakage of
genuine feelings from incomplete deception. Brinke and others established that participants
appeared surprised because they could only raise their eyebrows when trying to appear sad, which
then caused the participants to feel embarrassed, feel genuine happiness, and let a smile slip.[5] In
contrast to deceptive and falsified accounts, genuine accounts were expressed with fewer emotions.
Participants showing deceptive or falsified emotions overcompensated their emotional
performance. Genuine negative feelings of remorse leaked by the lower face were immediately
covered up with a neutral expression. Brinke recorded a small number of body language and verbal
cues for deceptive participants; instead, she recorded a large number of speech hesitations that cued
deceptive and falsified accounts of remorse.[5] Current findings about deceptive and falsified
remorse have practical use for measuring veracity of remorseful displays for judges, jurors, parole
officers, and psychologists when sentencing offenders.

Psychopathy
Psychopathic individuals are best known for their flagrant disregard for social and moral norms.
Psychopaths have dysfunctional personal relationships, characterized by violence, exploitation, and
philandering. Emotionally, they are incapable of feeling guilt or empathy, they respond abnormally
to fear and pain, and other emotions are shallow compared to population norms.[6] Psychopaths

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refuse to adopt social and moral norms because they are not swayed by the emotions, such as guilt,
remorse, or fear of retribution, that influence other human beings.[6]

As human beings, we hold dear to the value of remorse. The lack of remorse leads us to all believe
a person to be despicable. It is widely accepted that remorse is the proper reaction to any
misconduct. Remorse may originate in from either actual or contrived regret for the misconduct
that results in getting caught or causing harm.[7] Research has shown that the facial expressions of
offenders on trial affect the jury's attitude and, in turn, the sentencing decision. While remorse may
present guilt that may influence a jury's decision, a lack of remorse influences the jury even more
because it is one trait of psychopathy.

Psychopathy represents a configuration of traits that are missing within a person's personality, such
as a lack of empathy and remorse. Knowledge of psychopathic traits has been shown to affect how
jurors perceive adult and juvenile offenders. Assessments of psychopathy are introduced to direct a
relatively wide variety of questions in the legal system, so investigators have started examining the
effects of psychopathy evidences.[8] Through simulations in studies by John Edens, who is a
psychology professor at Texas A&M University, data suggests that attributing psychopathic traits to
adult and juvenile offenders can have a noticeable negative effect on how these individuals are
viewed by others.[8] Remorselessness, a key feature of psychopathy, proves to be a strong predictor
of juror attitudes.[8] In the study by John Edens, a pool of offenders were labeled as either having a
"disorder" condition or having "no disorder." Those labeled as "disorder" were given death verdicts
by mock jurors.[8] In the study, traits, such as callousness, remorselessness, and superficial charm,
were a strong predictor of negative consequences for the offenders. This study found that
remorselessness has the largest effect on the mock jurors' opinions of the "disorder" offenders and it
explains support for the death sentence.[8] The results of this study suggest that, free of mental
health testimonies, perceptions of a defendant's personality traits may have serious implications in
the sentencing decisions of a capital case.[8]

Forgiveness
The perception of remorse is essential to an apology, as such the greater the perception of remorse
the more effective the apology. An effective apology reduces negative consequences and
facilitating cognitive and behavioral changes associated with forgiveness.[9] With empathy as the
mediator between apologies and forgiveness and remorse as the essential part to an apology, one
can expect empathy to mediate perceived remorse forgiveness. Remorse may signal that one is
suffering psychologically because of their negative behavior, which leads to empathy from the
second party who then will express forgiveness.[9] In a study by James Davis and Greg Gold, 170
university students filled out questionnaires about forgiveness within interpersonal relationships.
Davis and Greg's findings suggest that when a victim perceives an apology to be remorseful then
he/she believes the negative behavior will not occur again, and they'll be more willing to forgive
them.[9]

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Versus self-condemnation
Remorse is closely linked with the willingness to humble oneself and to repent for one's misdeeds.
Remorse is not as such when defined through the view of self-condemnation.[10]
Self-condemnation, more so than remorse, is said to be associated with poor psychological
well-being. Remorse captures feelings of guilt, regret, and sorrow. Forgiveness does not eliminate
all negative feelings, but it may entail the reduction of bitter and angry feelings, not feelings of
disappointment, regret, or sorrow. A study by Mickie Fisher found that people who forgive
themselves for serious offenses may continue to harbor remorse or regret.[10] In contrast to
remorse, self-condemnation reflects a more global, negative, severe stance toward oneself.
Remorse may convey a sense of sorrow, while self-condemnation suggests the kind of loathing and
desire for punishment that characterizes interpersonal grudges. Fisher suggests that self-forgiveness
does not necessarily require one to get rid of feelings or regret or remorse.[10] Based on the study
by Fisher, self-forgiveness seems to relate more closely to self-condemnation and not remorse.
When trying to convince people to forgive themselves, it is crucial not to erase the potentially
adaptive feelings of remorse along with the more destructive self-condemnation.[10] People can
grow and experience prosocial behaviors once they accept responsibility for their own
transgressions. For genuine self-forgiveness, one must first accept responsibility for their offenses
and not rush to rid themselves of guilty feelings.

Buyer's remorse
Purchases can be divided into two different categories: material or experiential. A material good is
made to be kept in the buyer's possession, while an experiential good provides the buyer with a life
experience. A material good provides the buyer with a more enduring pleasure compared with an
experiential, as these two purchases also result in different types of regret.[11] While experiential
purchases bring about regrets of a missed opportunity, material purchases result in buyer's remorse,
which means that a person dwells on how their material purchase measure up to other purchases
they could have made and how it compares with other people's purchases. These comparisons
diminish satisfaction from the original purpose.[11] Past research explains that regrets of action are
intense, but only in the short term, while regrets of inaction gains intensity over time and dominates
people's experience. Major life choices, such as marriage, jobs, and education, are often the focus
of regret. Everyday experience suggests that everyday decisions are the most frequent causes of
regret.[11] Marketing directors know the effects of buyer's remorse, and use it to their advantage
when planning marketing strategies. The regret felt over choosing a material over an experiential
purchase depends on the pain of the factors underlying the purchase. Based on research by Thomas
Gilovich and Emily Rosenzwig, material purchases are more likely to lead to regret, while
experiential purchases give the buyer more satisfaction even over time.[11]

See also

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Remorse - Wikipedia
Atonement
Confession
Guilt
Non-apology apology
References
1. O'Hear, Michael M. (19961997), Remorse,
Cooperation, and Acceptance of Responsibility:
The Structure, Implementation, and Reform of
Section 3E1.1 of the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines, 91, Nw. U. L. Rev., p. 1507
2. Gary Chapman, Jennifer Thomas (2006). The
Five Languages of Apology. Moody. ISBN
1-881273-57-1. See also Gary Chapman
(2007). Now You're Speaking My Language:
Honest Communication And Deeper Intimacy
For A Stronger Marriage. B&H. ISBN
978-0-8054-4460-5.
3. Aaron Lazare (2004). On Apology. New York:
Oxford University Press. ISBN
978-0-1951-7343-7.
4. John Kleefeld (2007). "Thinking Like a
Human: British Columbia's Apology Act"
University of British Columbia Law Review 40
(2): 769808, 790. http://ssrn.com
/abstract=1937545.
5. Brinke, L,; MacDonald, S,; et al. (2012),
"Crocodile tears: Facial, Verbal and Body
Language Behaviours Associated With Genuine
and Fabricated Remorse", Law and Human
Behavior, 36 (1): 5159, doi:10.1037/h0093950
6. Maibom, H, (2005), "Moral Unreason: The
Case of Psychopathy", Mind and Language, 20
(2): 237257,
doi:10.1111/j.0268-1064.2005.00284
External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org
/w/index.php?title=Remorse&oldid=769734732"
Categories: Emotions Psychopathy
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remorse
Regret
Repentance
Resentment
7. MacLin, M,; Downs, C,; et al. (2009), "The
Effect of Defendant Facial Expression on Mock
Juror Decision-Making: The Power of
Remorse", North American Journal of
Psychology, 11 (2): 323332
8. Edens, J,; Davis, K,; et al. (2012), "No
Sympathy for the Devil: Attributing
Psychopathic Traits to Capital Murderers Also
Predicts Support for Executing Them",
Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and
Treatment, 1 (2): 175181,
doi:10.1037/a0026442
9. Davis, J,; Gold, G, (2011), "An examination of
emotional empathy, attributions of stability, and
the link between perceived remorse and
forgiveness", Personality and Individual
Differences, 50 (3): 392397,
doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.10.031
10. Exline, J,; Fisher, M, (2006), "Self-Forgiveness
versus Excusing: The Roles of Remorse, Effort,
and Acceptance of Responsibility", Self and
Identity, 5: 12746,
doi:10.1080/15298860600586123
11. Gilovich, T,; Rosenzweig, E, (2012), "Buyer's
Remorse or Missed Opportunity? Differential
Regrets for Material and Experiential
Purchases", Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 102 (2): 215223,
doi:10.1037/a0024999, PMID 21843013
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