Study points out that those who never apologize are happier

Do you remember a time when you were a child when you did something with a little friend of yours, took a big scolding, got grounded and was forced by your parents to apologize later? If you think about it, you will probably realize that the most painful part of this experience was not your friend's sermon or punishment or suffering, but the horrible feeling of having to apologize.

However, according to a report published by Smithsonian.com, a group of researchers ensures that that bad feeling does not only haunt us during childhood, but that apologizing makes us feel bad for a lifetime. Psychologists asked a group of people to remember some transgressions - such as cutting another driver in traffic or stealing someone - and whether they had apologized for them or not, and how they felt afterwards.

Results

The researchers later asked participants to write an email in which they could choose whether or not to apologize for their actions. Psychologists have found that - contrary to what our parents have always taught us - apologizing does not make people feel better. In fact, the opposite is true! The study results showed that the email in which people apologized made them feel worse.

Apparently, refusing to apologize makes us feel more powerful, and that power and control seems to translate into a stronger sense of self-esteem. What's more, the researchers found that participants who refused to apologize, in addition to feeling more satisfied, ironically also showed an increase in their sense of personal integrity.