This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta.

I'm sorry.

It's one of the simplest things to say,

and also one of the hardest.

That's especially true when we're apologizing

to the most important people in our lives.

When we've wronged a parent or a partner or a close friend,

working up the courage to make a man's

can sometimes feel really hard.

Why is that?

Why do many of us find it difficult to apologize,

especially to the people we love?

Last week on the show, we explored the psychology of forgiveness.

This week on Hidden Brain, the psychology of apologizing.

We look at the mental barriers that make it hard for us to acknowledge

when we've done something wrong,

the changing cultural expectations around apologies,

and why it may be useful to think of an apology as a gift.

Think about the last time someone wronged you.

Did they apologize?

Now think about the last time you wronged someone else.

Did you apologize?

...