Parental Apologies, Empathy, Shame, Guilt, and Attachment: A Path Analysis
The authors investigated the complex relationships of parental attitudes toward apologies, empathy, shame, guilt, and the parent's attachment orientation. Survey responses were obtained from 327 parents. A path analysis of the developed model demonstrated a close model fit (root mean square error of approximation .07; comparative fit index .93; incremental fit index .94; kh2 30.71, p .001) supporting previous research on apologies as beneficial to relationships. A parent's proclivity toward apologies, positively influenced by empathy and guilt and negatively influenced by shame withdraw behaviors, produced a more secure parent child attachment.