ABSTRACT
When we are reproached for some social failure, such as harming someone or violating important social rules, how do we construct an account for that failure so that it will be honored? Although considerable research has focused on the nature of different kinds of accounts and their function in interpersonal situations, little work has examined how people actually construct their accounts (for a partial exception see Cody & McLaughlin, 1990). Yet clearly when we construct our accounts we want them to be honored by the recipient. What is the process by which we do this?
