Apologies: Genuine admissions of blameworthiness or scripted, sympathetic responses?

The present study assessed whether apologies, given when an implicit offens e is committed, are a product of the perpetrator's attributions of blamewor thiness or merely scripted, sympathetic responses given without discriminat ion. 139 university students were manipulated to commit an implicit offense , accidental bodily con tact with a confederate. The attributions that the perpetrator or student made for the incident were then recorded. The partic ipants' attributions for the offense played a negligible role in predicting the elicitation of an apology. However, the participants' sympathy and des ire to help the victim were somewhat associated with whether an apology wou ld be delivered. Results suggest that apologies are not necessarily admissi ons of blameworthiness but may be in many cases scripted and or sympathetic responses.