Study One The discovery leads to the current study of how participants perceive an apology containing a hashtag within a social media context. The goal of the present study is to see if the way people apologize influences how other people feel about the apology. Specifically, if people view a sincere apology (compared to an insincere apology or no apology), then they will more strongly agree that the apology showed an acknowledgement of wrongfulness and more strongly agree that the apology is sincere, with people ironically finding no apology more likely to acknowledge wrongfulness and more sincere than an insincere apology.

Results: A chi-square test was used for the manipulation check (#SorrySorrySorry, #SorryNotSorry, #WhatsDoneIsDone) as the independent variable to determine if participants PERCEPTIONS OF TWITTER APOLOGIES 8 remembered which hashtag they saw at the end of the post. The results indicated a significant effect c 2 (4) = 112.38, p < .001. In the sincere condition most participants remembered #SorrySorrySorry (84.3%); in the insincere condition most participants remembered #SorryNotSorry (70.6%); in the no apology condition participants remembered #WhatsDoneIsDone (64.7%) the most. Participants were able to identify the correct hashtag. The chi-square test showed that participants did pay attention to the hashtag manipulation at the end of the apology post. The dependent variables were measured by a One-Way ANOVA test. Part II Question 1 on Charlie's apology acknowledging the behavior was wrong was the first dependent variable measured. A One-Way ANOVA showed that there was a significant result, F(2, 150) = 3.74, p = .026. A Tukey post-hoc test was statistically significant indicating that participants thought the apology showed acknowledgment of the wrongful behavior in the sincere condition (M = 4.49, SD = .83) more than in the insincere condition (M = 4.02, SD = .93). The sincere condition (M = 4.49, SD = .83) and no apology condition (M = 4.29, SD = .86) did not differ from each other; also the insincere (M = 4.02, SD = .93) and no apology condition (M = 4.29, SD = .86) showed no significant difference. This analysis supports the prediction that participants viewing a sincere apology versus an insincere apology will more likely agree that the apology showed an acknowledgment of wrong behavior. A One-Way ANOVA test was conducted on Question 7 from Part II to see if participants found the apology sincere. It showed that there was a significant effect for sincerity F(2, 150) = 36.28, p < .001. A Tukey post-hoc test was statistically significant indicating that participants in the sincere condition (M = 4.75, SD =.72) agreed with the sincerity of the apology statement more than in the insincere condition (M = 3.29, SD = 1.03) and no apology condition (M = 3.82, PERCEPTIONS OF TWITTER APOLOGIES 9 SD = .84). All three conditions differed from each other. The prediction that participants will agree more with an apology that expressed sincerity was supported. Participants determining more sincerity in the no apology condition compared to the insincere apology condition was also supported.

QUESTIONS:

What is one of the hypotheses for the dependent variable (DV) you identified above?

Complete the hypothesis statement below based on the predictions made in the study (read carefully):

Subjects in [Select One] ["the No Apology", "none of the", "the Sincere", "the Insincere"] Hashtag condition(s) will score Charlie's apology highest on the DVs.

Subjects in [ Select One] ["none of the", "the Insincere", "the Sincere", "the No Apology"] Hashtag condition(s) will score Charlie's apology lowest on the DVs.

What is one of the hypotheses for the dependent variable (DV) you identified above?

Complete the hypothesis statement below based on the predictions made in the study (read carefully):

Subjects in the [Select One] ["Sincere", "Insincere", "No Apology"] Hashtag condition will score the DVs higher than subjects in the [Select One] ["the Insincere", "the Sincere", "the No Apology", "none of the"] Hashtag condition, but lower than subjects in the [Select One] ["the No Apology", "the Sincere", "none of the", "the Insincere"] Hashtag condition.

What were the findings of study 1? PART 1

(Select all that apply)

A: The Insincere Hashtag condition was seen as no different than the Sincere Hashtag condition.

B: The Sincere Hashtag condition was seen as more sincere than the Insincere Hashtag condition.

C: The No Apology Hashtag condition was seen as more sincere than the Insincere Hashtag condition.

D: The Insincere Hashtag condition was seen as more sincere than the No Apology Hashtag condition.

E: The No Apology Hashtag condition was seen as more sincere than the Sincere Hashtag condition.

F: The No Apology Hashtag condition was seen as no different than the Insincere Hashtag condition.

G: The Sincere Hashtag condition was seen as more sincere than the No Apology Hashtag condition.

H: The Insincere Hashtag condition was seen as more sincere than the Sincere Hashtag condition.

I: The Sincere Hashtag condition was seen as no different than the No Apology Hashtag condition.

What were the findings of study 1? PART 2

(Select all that apply)

A: The Insincere Hashtag condition was seen as more acknowledging than the No Apology Hashtag condition.

B: The Sincere Hashtag condition was seen as more acknowledging than the Insincere Hashtag condition.

C: The Sincere Hashtag condition was seen as more acknowledging than the No Apology Hashtag condition.

D: The No Apology Hashtag condition was seen as more acknowledging than the Sincere Hashtag condition.

E: The No Apology Hashtag condition was seen as no different than the Insincere Hashtag condition.

F: The Insincere Hashtag condition was seen as more acknowledging than the Sincere Hashtag condition.

G: The Sincere Hashtag condition was seen as no different than the No Apology Hashtag condition.

H: The Insincere Hashtag condition was seen as no different than the Sincere Hashtag condition.

I: The No Apology Hashtag condition was seen as more acknowledging than the Insincere Hashtag condition.

What is the independent variable(s) for study two? (Check all that apply)

A: Gender

B: The participants' perceptions of Charlie's behavior

C: The participant's ratings of the sincerity of Charlie's apology

D: The participants

E: Number of likes on the post

F: Consensus priming

G: Type of apology (type of hashtag)

H: Whether the participant believed Charlie's behavior showed acknowledgment of his wrongful behavior

How many levels does each IV have?

A: 2; 2

B: 5; 2

C: 4; 2

D: 2; 3