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The best judgment call made by Congressman Christopher Lee may have been to have someone else read his apology.
The upstate New York lawmaker was made to say sorry -- and resign -- on Wednesday after Gawker revealed the married silver fox posted a shirtless, flexing photo of himself on a Craiglist dating forum.
Canadian scientists have discovered that there are ways to tell the difference between people who are sincerely remorseful and those who are just faking it -- but you have to be able to watch them while they’re saying they’re sorry.
The researchers, led by Leanne ten Brinke of the University of British Columbia, rounded up 31 college students who were videotaped while making sincere or insincere apologies, according to a new study published in the journal Law and Human Behavior.
The study volunteers were first asked to describe, while being videotaped, a non-criminal event that they felt intensely and genuinely remorseful about. They were then asked to describe an episode of cheating for which they felt no remorse, but to act as if they did.
Craigslist woman speaks up about topless ex-congressman
When researchers compared the two sets of recordings, they saw major differences between the people who were truly sorry and those who were just faking it.
People who aren’t really sorry tend to show a greater swing in mood -- from sorry to happy, for example. People who are sincerely apologizing will go through a neutral mood before showing any signs of happiness.
The truly unremorseful also tend to speak with more hesitation. So, if you hear “um” a lot in between words, that’s not a good sign.
The point of the research was to help judges, juror and parole board members determine who is really sorry.
We’ll all have a chance to try out the new findings if ex-congressman Lee decides to make an apology in public.
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Leave a Comment:
I'm sure he's sorry -- sorry he got caught!
I appreciate that he decided to resign pronto, and spare the rest of us any spurious excuses and/or long-winded explanations.
Guess you are one of those people who has never done anything wrong in your whole life!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is true, Susan. It depends on what the apologizer is sorry for. That's why some people seem to use an apology script. They just choose one that's worked for them in the past and then change to a happier subject. I wonder if there's an apology speech market on Ebay? A good speech writer could make a killing if they have a real knack for sounding sincere.
Yes, I've done things I've been sorry for. However, I've certainly never been a member of Congress, and even if I were, I hope I'd know better than to send a picture of me without a shirt on to a Craigslist dating site.
Agreed.
What's wrong with trying to get a date? Married, sure, but a date does not equal infidelity.
Link, you're right, if married a date doesn't equal infidelity, just the desire for infidelity.
Some of this is true but just BS to make up an article... basically common sense.
Not everyone has it (common sense).
Common sense is so rare these days, it should be considered a super-power.
If sense was "common" we would all have some.
That makes sense.
I think.
At least that's my two cents.
I think.
You know it's funny how angry some people get over some sad lonely congress person taking a shirtless photo of himself.
And the fact that he happens to be a MARRIED congressman
Don't you think this comgressman not only should have known better than to do something stupid like that, but just simply have been better to not even consider doing it? The fact he didn't and we are getting an "apology" is what might be the thing that angers some people.
Married guy trolling shirtless on internet looking for dates = scumbag. Who actually thinks they would want a Congressman like that?
AAA
people love to make drama in their lives or others.
I'm uh, uh, ummmm... sorry to ummm.... hear that he ummm.... felt the need to ummm... resign.
Here's the weirdest thing . . . he's a Republican congressman and he's trying to cheat with a . . . wait for it . . . WOMAN!!!!! Gotta admit, usually doesn't happen that way . . .
When I heard the news, I thought the same thing, not another "closet" congressman. It's refreshing to see that he likes "women" but his wife needs to kick him to the curve.
Congressman Massa (D) would disagree with you.
Got it!! Next time I am apologizing to the wife leave out "um" and go neutral before seeming happy. I can do it, thanks for the tip.
MoFugger your comment was hilarious. Thanks for the laugh : )
Guess this confirms what we already knew about John Boehner.
I'm amazed...we had a PRESIDENT who left stains on the carpet in the OVAL OFFICE. No worries. This moron (always the GUYS in office -- notice that)? sends a PHOTO of himself with his shirt off to an on-line bimbo and he's out of a job? Did I skip a chapter?
Yep, you missed a few things:
a) this is an article about lying. Lee at first claimed it wasn't him, then that someone hacked his e-mail, then had some aide read something stating that it was him.
b) Craigslist has been on everyone's @!$%#-list ever since the Craigslist killer incident.
c) Clinton was not sorry he did it and his wife was probably relieved he went somewhere else to get some.
Clinton also claimed he never did what Monica Lewinsky said he did, and he even wagged his finger at the American public on TV.
Clinton didn't use the oval office, he used his private study next to the OVAL OFFICE. Big Difference.
This guy is "out of a job" by his own choice, he wasn't impeached, nor did anyone call for his impeachment.
Lastly, Clinton was impeached and FOUND NOT GUILTY of lying to the country, not having an affair. He was asked "Did you have sex with Monica Lewinsky?" he replied "I did not have sex with that woman." He was then asked if he innapropriate contact with her, which he admitted to. He didn't lie.
I'm amazed that we had a president impeached over sex, when the guy who came after him lied about... oh just everything, led us to war and watched thousands of soldiers die, and he'll never see the inside of a courtroom for it.
I would not have cared if he stayed in office. Who and how many he sleeps with does not change affect his ability to do his job. Now if he can't do his job because his wife beats the crap out of him and puts him in the hospital, then I think he should resign.
Or if he is one of those holier than thou guys who calls for other caught cheating to quit, he should resign then too. Otherwise it is his personal business, between him and his wife.
Yes, you missed that he CHOSE to resign. No one forced him to do it. If he's out of a job, it was his own decision. Bet he won't miss the salary, anyway.
It's true that it's between him and his wife. That said, I'm glad I live in Michigan, where if a married person is caught cheeting, their spouse can press charges (it's a felony here, just one they don't pursue unless asked).
This guy is amazingly stupid. How many news articles are there about cheaters who got caught? He didn't need to represent NY because he's not smart enough to realize he'd get caught.
To say nothing of the fact that in the process of trying to cheat he also submitted PHOTOS of.... HIMSELF... through the internet... the most private medium that there is.
Damn, we need a sarcasm font.
This just goes to show that you don't have to be very smart to be a politician. It would help our country a lot if being smart were a requirement to run for public office.
Hoot, you obviously want to eliminate some of our national deficit by eliminating 3/4ths of Congress.
A study involving 31 subjects is useless and irrelevant. It means nothing.
If done properly, a study of 31 subjects can be a strong indicator for further studies, but you're mostly correct.
I do get a little tired of these tiny college studies.
When I was in college, one of the requirements for the Psych 101 class was that you had to sign up to participate in 3 studies for the grad students. The grad students, of course, need a constant supply of guinea pigs to do their research projects. They might technically be "studies" or "science" but their sample size is very small, and limited only to college student volunteers. That's a very skewed demographic, and not very good science. But it works for their assignments.
I just get tired of these things being reported on as though they were large-scale, peer-reviewed, controlled, rigorous experiments.
It's the same with these stupid polls. "70% of Americans think this! 53% of Americans think that!" All based on the responses of 1,000 people, as if 1,000 is a valid sample of 350 million.
As long as the 1,000 is a random sample of the 350 million population a valid confidence interval can be created. The margin of error for such a polling would be at most 1.6%. Take a Statistics class and learn all about how and why it works.
People who use or rely on statistics to make their point or living are a lot like how a drunk uses a lamp post......for support.....not ilumination.
I apologize to keep my soul in good order with God. Scripture says with the same forgiveness you give you will get. Some people feel an apology is a sign of weakness, but I think it is stength. I don't like that sick feeling left n my stomach when a really sincere "I'm sorry" takes it away. Feeling free is wonderful
If you want a lesson on "crocodile tears" .... just watch the clip of Boehner over and over again.
Now all we need to know is how do we read which politicians are the biggest liars. They've all been fooling me for the last twenty-five years.
Oh that's easy -- it's the ones who are breathing.
Do you know how to tell when a politician is lying? His lips are moving.
If you tell people how to look like they're not being insincere, then they can really fake it, right?
31 people acting in front of a camera - yeah - great scientific study here
More crap psudeo-scince from the Northern Lights.
um im running for office .i have been on craigslist ,um i like woman ,um i take my shirt off. and i never lie! never
It's not crap science - people would like to just think it is, because people do not want to think that they can be that transparent. You would have to be a master to disguise all of the "lying" human responses. To a normal person, you could probably fake it. To anyone with half a brain who is paying attention...well, there's always a signal or a sign. It's just human behavior.
Except those lying "tells" have been proven to be crap. Anyone w/ "half a brain who is paying attention" would have also picked up on how widely and conclusively they've been proven false. Outside of the world of TV, those signals and signs are no better than random chance.
Women have always used tears to manipulate and deceive. Pretty easy to spot. Of course, the lame stream media would never use a woman in an example or emotional or psychological deception; only male bashing is allowed.
I don't think that photo was that bad, more the fact he is married. That is an internal issue between him and his wife and I don't see how it affects his job. Maybe because it was for sex, but I don't see any proof that was what it was for. The morals of the woman who posted the photo and e-mails clearly is a slug, so she must have wanted attention and money or she wouldn't be trolling the web in the first place. Possibly looking to blackmail if she hooked some well off guys...?
"The researchers, led by Leanne ten Brinke of the University of British Columbia, rounded up 31 college students..."
Seriously, 31 whole people were studied to make this case? And they were all college students? That's quite a large and diverse group to make such a bold claim.
[yawn]
jason