An unusually remorseful Rush Limbaugh has publicly apologized for calling Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” after she advocated mandated medical insurance coverage for contraceptives. “Those two words were inappropriate,” he reiterated on his popular radio program on Monday. While many commentators were surprised by the statement’s contrite tone — it ends with the sentence, “I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices” — it reminded us of a perceptive research paper we wrote about (“We're Sorry: Not All ... Read More
A Maxim a Day Keeps Bad Feelings Away
June 30, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Hey, nobody’s perfect, right? After all, you live and learn. Everybody makes mistakes, and it’s well known that experience is the best teacher. String them together, and these familiar proverbs start to sound suspiciously like rationalizations for questionable behavior. They reinforce our threatened egos by insisting the offense we just committed, or mistake we just made, wasn’t really so terrible after all. And according to new research, they work — for men. It appears women’s consciences aren’t so easily assuaged. Those are the findings of a study by psychologist Dan ... Read More
