Article: If you have said or done something that was insensitive or hurtful to a specific person or group, you should apologize. You should also apologize when you make a mistake. Never try to cover up your mistakes by shifting blame to another person. For example, imagine you invite friends over and order pizza. You forget that one of your friends is a vegetarian, and ordered only meat lovers pizzas. This oversight can make it look like you didn’t care enough to consider that friend’s preference. In this case, you should apologize for the mistake and try to fix it (order a cheese pizza). Some people are apologize compulsively. When you over apologize, people may take it for granted that you assume they are right. This will leave the impression that you have low self-esteem and that you are not secure in your opinions. Aside from weakening your stance on an issue, this will bring the sincerity of any serious apologies into question. For example, if you say “I’m sorry,” every time you pour yourself the last cup of coffee or take the last napkin, saying I’m sorry,” might be taken as insignificant when you make a mistake like spilling your coffee on your boss. You should not apologize for being honest. If you respectfully state your opinion or stance on an issue, there is no need to apologize. If you make a decision that you feel was for the best, you should not apologize. You can look at the other person’s viewpoint and validate their opinion, but you should not invalidate your own. For example, if you say something like “Studies show that the economy needs to be diversified with more renewable energy jobs to be competitive in the future,” you should not apologize to someone just because they work in the fossil fuel industry and disagree.

What is a summary?
Apologize for being offensive. Say you are sorry only when you mean it. Avoid apologizing for respectfully disagreeing.