道歉也是門學問 你會道歉嗎？
We've all watched the scene dozens of times – the shamed celebrity standing before a podium offering up their apologies.
這樣的場景我們已經看了無數遍了，在某個平臺上，羞愧的某個名人向公衆道歉。
But does simply owning up and saying sorry actually do any good?
但是單純的道歉真的就有用麼？
According to a recent paper by researchers at USC, Washington University in St. Louis, Singapore Management University and the University of Miami, it depends on if the apology is good enough.
根據最近南加州大學，聖路易斯華盛頓大學，新加坡管理學院和邁阿密大學的研究，道歉究竟有沒有用要依據道歉到底夠不夠好。
In particular, people look for what they see as a 'sincere' apology, a real attempt to repair trust.
特別是，人們希望看到的是都是真誠的道歉，一個願意修復信任的道歉。
Participants in the U.S. and Singapore took part in four experiments, two of which had participants make a series of decisions in a game with a virtual partner.
在美國和新加坡的參與者都參加了四個實驗，其中兩個是和虛擬的夥伴參與一個決策類的遊戲。
The decisions were all based on trust - but the 'partner' was designed to violate the trust by keeping all the money earned cooperatively in previous rounds.
所有的決定都是在信任的基礎上做出來的，但是你的夥伴會通過在前幾輪將你們合作賺到的錢據爲己有來打破你們之間的信任。
The two other studies asked people's opinion of a fictional CEO who asked his employees to take a pay cut and failed to follow suit, breaking a promise to refuse dividends from his stock.
另外兩個研究是關於人們對一位虛構的CEO的看法。這位CEO給他的僱員減薪然後不遵循平時的做法，甚至也沒有遵守關於股票和紅利的諾言。
The researchers then assessed how different methods of apologising worked - from a simple sorry, to a sincere-sounding apology, to promises to reform in the future. The researchers classified these 'trust repair' mechanisms by how well they worked.
緊接着研究者研究了不同方式的道歉的作用是怎麼樣的，從最簡單的對不起，言語真誠的道歉到保證以後一定改正的決心。研究者們通過他們的作用將道歉分類。
The research, detailed in the article 'Understanding the Effects of Substantive Responses on Trust Following a Transgression,' showed that nothing beat showing a genuine apology in terms of winning back trust.
發表在文章《關於信任後的道歉應答效果》中這個研究，說明了在贏得信任方面，沒有什麼比真誠認真的道歉更重要了。
The study said that apologies - whether in the form of a resignation, an offer to change policy, or a simple verbal apology - work by activating an impression of repentance in the wronged individual's mind.
研究說，不管是辭職之後的道歉，政策更改之後的道歉，還是一個簡單的口頭道歉，他們都會給人留下深刻的希望悔改的印象。
Successful apologies hammer home the idea that the perpetrator is unlikely to violate trust again.
成功的道歉是要再三重複犯錯的人不會再這麼幹了。
'We want to know that the person has changed somehow, that their character has changed. The trust repair responses - such as offering to reform - also work on their ability to signal perceived repentance,' said Kim.
“我們想知道到底認識怎麼樣變了，比如說是不是性格變了。修復信任的措施，例如有所改變，就是他們悔改的標誌。”金姆這樣說。
Kim pointed to the recent sex-texting - or 'sexting' - scandal involving former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner as a relevant example of the study's core findings.
金姆將最近紐約國會議員安東尼·溫納的性醜聞事件作爲研究的核心例子之一。
'The fact that he resigned from Congress, it's clear that he did so involuntarily so that resignation isn't going to restore trust in him at all,' said Kim. 'If it had been seen as him doing so voluntarily and that he was punishing himself because he really was repentant that would have been far more effective.'
“他離開國會很顯然，就算是他無心這麼做，國會也再也不相信他了”，金姆說。“如果”他是主動這麼做的，那麼他也許會懲罰自己，這樣悔改的話，就會更有效果。
'Leaving Congress because it was imposed on him - that punishment is not able to signal that sense of repentance.'
“離開國會因爲這是他被迫的，這種懲罰並不能看作是悔改的標誌。”
