Opname Science Quest Aflevering Excuses

Listen to our science quest podcast about apologies

Science Quest

In our podcast Science Quest, our in-house experts discuss the latest, greatest and most talked-about insights from their own research. In this episode, we look at excuses. What makes or cracks good excuses? And how effective are government and corporate apologies?

National apologies are plentiful in the news. This year the government made apologies about Srebrenica, war crimes in the Dutch East Indies and announced an apology for our country on slavery. But companies and local governments are also saying sorry: the NS for using toxic paint Chromium-6 and big cities for slavery, for example.

Why is there an increase? Aren't there too many of them? And when are apologies effective? In this podcast, Juliette Schaafsma, a specialist on political apologies worldwide, and Lianne Wijntjens, an expert on apologies in jurisprudence, explain what good apologies should comply with.  Students Defne Ekman and Thirza Reezigt give their opinions on how best to make apologies. In De Wandeling, social psychologist Marcel Zeelenberg explains how regret and guilt contribute to apologies. 

Technique: Ed Boschman

This podcast is only available in Dutch

  • Juliette Schaafsma

    Juliëtte Schaafsma

    Professor of Communication and Cognition

    Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences

    Profielpagina

  • Lianne Wijntjes - klein

    Lianne Wijntjens

    Assistant professor of Private, Business and Labour Law

    Tilburg Law School 

  • Marcel Zeelenberg

    Marcel Zeelenberg

    Professor of Economic Psychology

    Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences 

    Profielpagina 

Date of publication: 12 December 2022