This thesis examines a type of language behavior, account-giving, in a Japanese business setting. Account-giving occurs when people sense that giving a reason or an explanation will mitigate the situation somehow and reduce uneasiness caused by a certain unexpected or unusual behavior; the account serves to fill the gap between the behavior and the expectations.
Apologies have been identified as an integral component of account-giving in Japanese. The present study investigates 1) whether or not an apology is a significant factor in account-giving in a Japanese business setting, and if so, 2) to what extent an apology becomes significant, 3) whether or not the severity of harm has an impact on the need for an apology in the account-giving, and 4) what feelings or attitude an apology in Japanese account-giving can express.
Survey data collected in Japan in 2010 from nine native speakers of Japanese with working experience in a Japanese company are analyzed using Bakhtin’s notion of speech genres. The concept of speech genres makes it possible to clarify elements of culturally appropriate utterances in particular contexts with particular goals of the interaction.
The analysis of the data reveals that apologies are a significant component of Japanese account-giving delivered in a business setting. The absence of apology causes ancillary utterances to be seen as inappropriate, and this in turn yields a negative impression about the account-giver. In the case of high severity of harm, the evaluation of the appropriateness of the utterances as well as the impression of the account-giver, is negatively affected more than in the case of low severity of harm, but the need for an apology remains unchanged. The data show that apologies are necessary regardless of the harm severity level. If the account-giver does not give an apology, that person tends to be perceived as unrepentant (hansei shitenai), discourteous (reigi ga nai), and immature (mijukumono). These personality characterizations are related more to a social manner and moral character (hinsei) than the representative meaning of apology.
This study also reveals that in Japanese account-giving in a business setting, apologies express, in variable combinations, the emotions/thoughts/attitudes of four different stances: (1) deep sincerity and responsibility for one’s job, (2) self-reflection, (3) concern about the offended party, and (4) regret about the negative outcome. Expression of these during account-giving is highly valued in Japan. Even if the account-giver feels that he or she is not responsible for the outcome, if s/he was involved in any way in events related to the outcome, demonstrating these feelings/attitudes is evaluated positively. Apologies in Japanese account-giving play a vital role in maintaining or improving trust, and help to maintain lasting relationships in Japanese society.