The next time you say sorry to someone, think about why you’re apologising. Have you done something wrong or are you apologising out of social nicety? If it’s the latter, you’re making it harder for us all to say sorry properly.

“The first thing I talk about when addressing apologising is the idea that we often apologise for things that aren’t our fault,” says psychotherapist Roxy Rhodes. “Because we say sorry so much, its impact is diluted and tends to have much less gravitas when we really do need to say it.

“Traffic making us late, walking along the pavement and someone crashing into us, saying we’re just about to make a round of cuppas in the office then getting sucked into replying to an important email – these aren’t things to apologise for! Apologising for ‘being’ is such a typical trait – especially for women.”

How to apologise properly (and really mean it), according to the experts