There appears to be two extremes of behavior in humans.  When a mistake is made, e.g. with a phone number, there are those who say, “I’m sorry, I gave you the wrong number,” and automatically assume this is so.

The other extreme may opine, “I’m sorry, you got  the number wrong.”

The former is often viewed as pleasant, even well liked, but seldom achieves the heights of social standing of the latter, at least in Western culture, even though the latter may be viewed as aggressive or unpleasant.   Why is this?

This warrants further observation.