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Professor Jennifer
Robbennolt is part of the School of Law’s Center
for Dispute Resolution. Photo by MU Publications and Alumni
Communication
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Apology
Accepted!
MU Study Finds Full
Apologies Deter Lawsuits
By Jeff Neu
A common belief in the legal world is that
defendants must avoid apologizing to plaintiffs because statements
might be used at trial as an admission of responsibility. However,
two new studies by a researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia
found that an apology favorably affects the prospects of averting
lawsuits and promoting settlements.
“Several factors, such as the nature
of the apology, the severity of the injury and other evidence
of responsibility, affect the capacity of an apology to facilitate
settlement,” said Jennifer Robbennolt, professor of law
at MU, who conducted the study. “Policymakers and litigants
must take into account these complex issues when making decisions
about the appropriate role of apologies in settling civil disputes.”
In the two studies, participants, ages 21
to 70, read a scenario describing a pedestrian-bicycle accident.
They were asked to take on the role of the injured person and
evaluate a settlement offer from the other party, based on information
about the injuries, the other party’s conduct, and each
party’s responsibility for causing the accident.
Robbennolt found that when a full apology
was given, 73 percent of the respondents would accept the settlement
offer. When no apology was given, 52 percent would accept, but
when a partial apology was given, only 35 percent would accept.
Even when Robbennolt changed the scenario
and made the evidence of fault less clear, a partial apology
was still often perceived no differently than no apology. Results
also showed that the severity of the injury mattered. The more
severe the injury, the more need to fully apologize.
“An offender who offered a full apology
was seen as experiencing more regret, as being more moral and
more likely to be careful in the future than one offering a
partial or no apology,” Robbennolt said.
Robbennolt’s study, entitled “Apologies
and Legal Settlement: An Empirical Examination,” is scheduled
to be published in an upcoming issue of the Michigan
Law Review.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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