CASE STUDY: WHY DO WOMEN SAY I'M SORRY?

“A discussion on why women tend to be apologetic even though the incident and or lack thereof doesn’t warrant it.”

I’ve always been intrigued why women tend to be apologetic even though the incident or lack thereof doesn’t warrant it.

 I could be 5 feet from a woman in Whole Foods and I will hear her say: “I’m sorry.” At first, I would ignore it and then I started to ask why. Why are you sorry? Then I began to see a pattern in their responses.

 I am a social documentarian interested in the human condition. I want my case study to further draw attention to this issue.

 I am a single parent raising an 8 year old daughter. I am attempting to do my part to make the World a safer place for her physically, mentally and emotionally. I am pro-woman and believe this constant state of being apologetic ‘to man’ has been learned. Unlike a majority of men who never apologize and the reason being: Men tend to view apologies as humiliating and or being weak.

 Examples of Why Women Apologize:

 A University of Waterloo, Canada study found that women tend to apologize more often because they have a lower threshold than men for what they consider offensive.

Traditionally, girls are often raised to value empathy over the "masculine" trait of strength — which means that, in situations where strength or assertiveness is required, women feel the need to cushion their actions with an apology.

 “Over-apologizing can stem from being too hard on ourselves or beating ourselves up for things,” Dr. Juliana Breines, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rhode Island, explained. In addition to anxiety, another mental health disorder that can lead people to over-apologize is OCD.

 You've probably heard that women apologize more often than men. Well, studies show this is in fact true. On average, women say they're sorry more times in their lives than men do.

 Do I have Sorry syndrome? Here are a few signs you might be afflicted, according to a few articles we found: You apologize for things you have no control over. You apologize for someone else's actions. You apologize for normal, everyday interactions: scooting past someone who is seated on your row in a movie theater or airplane.

Is apologizing a lot a trauma response? But repetitive, nearly constant apologies for every little thing—or, what Psychologist Paige Carambio, PsyD calls, “apologizing for existing”—can actually be an after-effect of trauma, a self-preservation technique survivors may think they still need to utilize in order to protect themselves.

 Why Do Women Say I’m Sorry? I want to to interview women articulating how the question affects them on a personal, social and emotional level.

 Please contact us if you’re interested in participating in this case study?

 Our study will assist the now and next generation of women to be aware of this overused and potentially detrimental mannerism.

 Thanks in advance and I look forward to your response.

 Best Always,

 Terrence