Within‐group apologies can restore a sense of justice more for non‐victimized observers than for victims

Abstract

Within‐group apologies are effective for governments to address injustices, but they often hesitate due to public reception concerns. With justice theory as the starting point, this study investigated the psychological effects of within‐group apologies, excuses and silence between the empathetic group towards victims' experiences (i.e. victim‐empathic group) and the observers (Study 1) and between the actual victims and the observers (Study 2). Findings indicate that within‐group apologies restore justice and social engagement for all participants, while excuses and silence are ineffective. Victims' justice restoration was notably weaker than observers when encountering the apology (Study 2), while the victim‐empathic group had similar justice restoration as observers (Study 1). Thus, within‐group apologies are more effective at restoring a sense of justice for observers than victims.