Why do children and adults believe others apologize?

Apologies are a fundamental social mechanism for repairing harm and maintaining relationships, yet little is known about how individuals infer the motives behind them. This study examined how 5- to 6-year-old children (N = 64, 48.4% female; all participants were Korean) and adults (N = 132, 52.3% female; all Korean) attribute motives to wrongdoers' apologies, focusing on internal motives (guilt, shame) and external motives (relational concern, avoidance of punishment). Participants were presented with stories in which a wrongdoer caused either intentional harm (intentional-harm condition) or accidental harm (accidental-harm condition), apologized to the victim and then rated why the wrongdoer apologized based on four possible motives. Children primarily attributed relational concern to apologizers, viewing apologies as behaviours aimed at maintaining social relationships. They endorsed both relational concern and punishment avoidance more strongly for apologies following intentional rather than accidental harm. Adults endorsed a broader range of motives, most strongly attributing guilt to apologizers. Their responses varied by harm intentionality, showing stronger attributions of guilt for accidental harm and stronger attributions of punishment avoidance for intentional harm. These findings reveal developmental and contextual differences in how individuals understand the motives underlying apologies.