Hi. It’s Nelson, here. Today in this video, I’m going to talk about different views on “I’m sorry.” between American and Japanese.
Even after decades of cooperation in business and politics, America and Japan still appear not to fully understand what the others think of a simple concept, ‘apology’.
For instance, most Americans were unmoved by Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s effusive apologies in 2010, after widespread reports of malfunctioning Prius accelerators. Japan, for its part, bristled when a US submarine commander didn’t immediately apologize after colliding with and sinking a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii in 2001.
The core issue is that the two countries have different perceptions of culpability. Americans see an apology as an admission of wrongdoing, where Japanese see it as an eagerness to repair a damaged relationship.
In an initial survey, American undergraduate students were more likely to say that apology directly implied guilt whereas Japanese undergraduate students apologize even when they are not personally responsible for what had happened. For this reason, American students recall apology 4.51 times a week by comparison with 11.05 times by Japanese.
In a second study, we looked at the utility of apologies for repairing trust. After showing students a worker’s deliberate mistake in accounting job, the Japanese students were more willing to trust the worker’s assertion that she wouldn’t engage in such behavior again and then they were willing to offer her a job.
So, in keeping with today’s theme, I’d like to point out that with the deep understanding of such differences can executives make effective use of apology as a tool for facilitating negotiations, resolving conflicts and repairing trust.
A misunderstanding over “I’m sorry.” is just one aspect of semantic disconnection. So, if you have any chance to meet foreigner for business, study, or whatsoever, you would do well to stay tuned for other cultural nuances.
If you have any better ideas or comments, leave them in the comment section below. Thank you and see you again soon.