This is relevant in my life. My partner apologizes all of the time and I often will tell him "you didn't do anything wrong." I'm interested in digging into the reason for it. In US culture, it's pretty automatic, especially for women. So I have caught myself, and stopped myself, when I'm not saying it genuinely. When it comes to arguments or friendship though-I think it goes well if you both understand the part you play in the conflict and can apologize for that. It takes some strong emotional intelligence for that though (in my opinion).