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

Abstract

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.