The effect of accepting an apology and alcohol intake on anger expression An experimental study simulating a railway use situation

• Published in: Shinrigaku kenkyū Vol. 94; no. 2; pp. 109 - 119
• Main Authors: Okada, Yasunori, Miyachi, Yumeko, Tsurumi, Kosuke, Kusumi, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese; English
• Published: The Japanese Psychological Association 2023
• Subjects: aggression; alcohol; anger; apology; public transportation
• ISSN: 0021-5236; 1884-1082
• DOI: 10.4992/jjpsy.94.21042

This study investigated the effect of accepting apologies and alcohol intake on anger expression through a laboratory experiment simulating a railway use situation. Fifty adult men participated in this study. 24 men were assigned to the alcohol group and 26 men were assigned to the non-alcohol group. After drinking either an alcoholic or a non-alcoholic beverage, they watched an animation that showed a frustrating situation at a train station. Following the animation, they watched three types of videos depicting staff responses to a passenger: “apology in a businesslike tone,” “apology with bowing in a polite manner,” and “non-apology.” After watching each video, the participants physically expressed their anger by hand grip strength using a hand dynamometer imagining that they were in the video situation. Only the participants in the alcohol group expressed their anger more strongly after watching “apology in a businesslike tone” than “apology with bowing in a polite manner.” These results suggest that explicit polite and non-verbal expressions of apology to passengers by staff are important to reducing anger expressed by intoxicated passengers.