Thanking and Apologizing: Talk that isn’t cheap

“We place a high value on teaching children to say “thank you” and “I’m sorry.” As adults, these simple words are central to many social interactions. Uttering the words is easy, so why do people often hold back? And why does the failure to confer thanks or to apologize so often lead to bad feelings or even conflict? A new paper from Carnegie Mellon University researchers introduces a framework, “Responsibility Exchange Theory,” for understanding why thanking and apologizing, as well as bragging and blaming, matter so much, and presents novel experimental studies that reveal the psychology underlying these communications.” Read more at American News Report