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Embarrassment or awkwardness is an emotional state that is associated with mild to severe levels of discomfort, and which is usually experienced when someone commits (or thinks of) a socially unacceptable or frowned-upon act that is witnessed by or revealed to others. Frequently grouped with shame and guilt, embarrassment is considered a “
self-conscious Self-consciousness is a heightened sense of awareness of oneself. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. Historically, "self-consciousness" was synonymous with "self-awareness", referring to a state of awareness that o ...
emotion,” and it can have a profoundly negative impact on a person’s thoughts or behavior. Usually, some perception of loss of honor or dignity (or other high-value ideals) is involved, but the embarrassment level and the type depends on the situation.


Causes

Embarrassment can be personal, caused by unwanted attention to private matters or personal flaws or mishaps or shyness. Some causes of embarrassment stem from personal actions, such as being caught in a lie or in making a mistake. In many cultures, being seen
nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
or inappropriately dressed is a particularly stressful form of embarrassment (see
modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...
). Personal embarrassment can also stem from the actions of others who place the embarrassed person in a socially awkward situation—such as a parent showing one's baby pictures to friends, having someone make a derogatory comment about one's appearance or behavior, discovering one is the victim of gossip, being rejected by another person (see also humiliation), being made the focus of attention (e.g., birthday celebrants, newlyweds), or even witnessing someone else's embarrassment. Personal embarrassment is usually accompanied by some combination of blushing,
sweating Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distr ...
, nervousness, stammering, and
fidgeting Fidgeting is the act of moving about restlessly in a way that is not (socially recognized as) essential to ongoing tasks or events. Fidgeting may involve playing with one's fingers, hair, or personal objects (e.g. glasses, pens or items of cloth ...
. Sometimes the embarrassed person tries to mask embarrassment with smiles or
nervous laughter Nervous laughter is laughter provoked from an audience's expression of alarm, embarrassment, discomfort or confusion, rather than amusement. Nervous laughter is usually less robust in expression than "a good belly laugh", and may be combined with ...
, especially in etiquette situations. Such a response is more common in certain cultures, which may lead to misunderstanding. There may also be feelings of anger depending on the perceived seriousness of the situation, especially if the individual thinks another person is intentionally causing the embarrassment. There is a range of responses, with the most minor being a perception of the embarrassing act as inconsequential or even
humor Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...
ous, to intense apprehension or fear. The idea that embarrassment serves an apology or appeasement function originated with Goffman who argued the embarrassed individual "demonstrates that he/she is at least disturbed by the fact and may prove worthy at another time". Semin and Manstead demonstrated social functions of embarrassment whereby the perpetrator of knocking over a sales display (the "bad act") was deemed more likable by others if he/she appeared embarrassed than if he/she appeared unconcerned – regardless of restitution behavior (rebuilding the display). The capacity to experience embarrassment can also be seen as functional for the group or culture. It has been demonstrated that those who are not prone to embarrassment are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior – for example, adolescent boys who displayed more embarrassment were found less likely to engage in aggressive/delinquent behaviors. Similarly, embarrassment exhibited by boys more likely to engage in aggressive/delinquent behavior was less than one-third of that exhibited by non-aggressive boys. Thus proneness to embarrassment (i.e., a concern for how one is evaluated by others) can act as a brake on behavior that would be dysfunctional for a group or culture.


Professional embarrassment

Embarrassment can also be professional or official, especially after statements expressing confidence in a stated course of action, or willful disregard for evidence. Embarrassment increases greatly in instances involving official duties or workplace facilities, large amounts of money or materials, or loss of human life. Examples of causes include a government's failed public policy, exposure of corrupt practices or unethical behavior, a celebrity whose personal habits receive public scrutiny or face legal action, or officials caught in serious personally embarrassing situations. Even small errors or miscalculations can lead to significantly greater official embarrassment if it is discovered that there was willful disregard for evidence or directives involved (e.g., see Space Shuttle Challenger). Not all official failures result in official embarrassment, even if the circumstances lead to some slight personal embarrassment for the people involved. For example, losing a close political election might cause some personal embarrassment for the candidate but generally would be considered an honorable loss in the profession and thus not necessarily lead to professional embarrassment. Similarly, a scientist might be personally disappointed and embarrassed if one of their hypotheses was proven wrong, but would not normally suffer professional embarrassment as a result. By contrast, exposure of falsified data supporting a scientific claim would likely lead to professional embarrassment in the scientific community. Professional or official embarrassment is often accompanied by public expressions of anger, denial of involvement, or attempts to minimize the consequences. Sometimes the embarrassed entity issues press statements, removes or distances themselves from sub-level employees, attempts to carry on as if nothing happened, suffers income loss, emigrates, or vanishes from public view.


Vicarious embarrassment

Vicarious embarrassment is an embarrassed feeling from observing the embarrassing actions of another person.Ahmet Uysal, Gülçin Akbas, Elif Helvacı, and Irem Metin
Validation and correlates of the vicarious embarrassment scale
''Personality and Individual Differences'' 60 (2014), pp. 48–53
People who rate themselves as more empathic are more likely to experience vicarious embarrassment.EurekAlert!
Your flaws are my pain
13 April 2011
The effect is present whether or not the observed party is aware of the embarrassing nature of their actions, although awareness generally increases the strength of the felt vicarious embarrassment, as does an accidental (as opposed to intentional) action.Sören Krach, Jan Christopher Cohrs, Nicole Cruz de Echeverría Loebell, Tilo Kircher, Jens Sommer, Andreas Jansen, and Frieder Michel Paulus
Your Flaws Are My Pain: Linking Empathy To Vicarious Embarrassment
PLoS ONE, 13 April 2011


Types in social psychology

One typology of embarrassment is described by Sharkey and Stafford. There are six types of embarrassment: #
Privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
violations – for example where a part of the body is accidentally exposed, or there is an invasion of space, property, or information that may be warranted to privacy, # Lack of knowledge and skill – for example forgetfulness, or experiencing failure while performing a relatively easy task #
Criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...
and rejection – is another cause of embarrassment, as well as being made the center of attention positively or negatively # Awkward acts – refer to social situations, for example, inappropriate conversations, clumsiness or ungraceful actions (such as an emotional outbreak like speaking out unintentionally) that can trigger embarrassment # Appropriate image – refers to more of a personal reflection of embarrassment, like body image, clothing apparel, and personal possessions (for example owning an older mobile phone compared to the latest model) #
Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
– can also have the effect of provoking embarrassment, as when an individual in a movie theatre with his or her parents, other family, co-workers, or mixed-company peers is made uncomfortable by an unexpected occurrence of nudity in the film that the group is watching. Another typology, by Cupach and Metts, discusses the dimensions of intended-unintended and appropriate-inappropriate behavior, and four basic types of embarrassing circumstances: # Faux pas (socially awkward acts) # Accidents # Mistakes # Failure to perform a duty or moral obligation. Based on these types, Cupach and Metts classify two basic embarrassment situations: the actor responsible and the observer responsible. Actor responsible situations are embarrassing when a person executes an act that is either inappropriate to a point of proficiency matching social norms and expectations, inconsistent with role expectations, or is out-of-sync with a
social identity Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, and/or expressions that characterize a person or group.Compare ''Collins Dictionary of Sociology'', quoted in In sociology, emphasis is placed on collective identity, in which ...
. The observer responsible categories are embarrassing when an individual becomes the focus of attention through: * Recognition, praise, criticism, correction, or teasing * Becomes initialized through being tripped or bumped, which is then associated with someone acting inappropriately * Has information revealed publicly to another individual or peer group


Etymology

The first known written occurrence of ''embarrass'' in English was in 1664 by
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
in his diary. The word derives from the French word ''embarrasser'', "to block" or "obstruct", whose first recorded usage was by
Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...
in 1580. The French word was derived from the Spanish ''embarazar'', whose first recorded usage was in 1460 in ''Cancionero de Stúñiga'' (Songbook of Stúñiga) by
Álvaro de Luna Álvaro de Luna y Fernández de Jarava (between 1388 and 13902 June 1453), was a Castilian statesman, favourite of John II of Castile. He served as Constable of Castile and as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. He earned great influence in t ...
.Joan Corominas and José Pacual, "embarazar," ''Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico,'' (Gredos, 1980) Vol. II, p. 555-556. The Spanish word comes from the Portuguese ''embaraçar'', which is a combination of the
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
''em-'' (from Latin ''im-'' for "in-") with ''baraço'' or ''baraça'', "a noose" or "rope". ''Baraça'' originated before the Romans began their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC. Thus, ''baraça'' could be related to the
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
word ''barr'', "tuft". (Celtic people actually settled much of Spain and Portugal beginning in the 8th century BC) However, it certainly is not directly derived from it, as the substitution of ''r'' for ''rr'' in Ibero-Romantic languages was not a known occurrence. The Spanish word may come from the Italian ''imbarazzare'', from ''imbarazzo'', "obstacle" or "obstruction". That word came from ''imbarrare'', "to block" or "bar", which is a combination of ''in-'', "in" with ''barra'', "bar" (from the
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
''barra'', which is of unknown origin). The problem with this theory is that the first known usage of the word in Italian was by Bernardo Davanzati (1529–1606), long after the word had entered Spanish.


In Judaism

Embarrassing another person is considered to be a serious sin in Judaism. Rabbis quoted in the Babylonian Talmud state that embarrassing another person in public is akin to murder (literally "spilling blood"). Rabbi Naḥman bar Yitzḥak responds by noting how the analogy of "spilling blood" is apt since, when a person is embarrassed, their face becomes less flushed and more pale (after the initial flush).


See also

* Blushing * Cringe comedy *
Criterion of embarrassment The criterion of embarrassment is a type of historical analysis in which a historical account is deemed likely to be true under the inference that that the author would have no reason to invent a historical account which might embarrass them. Cer ...
*
Face (social concept) Face is a class of behaviors and customs practiced mainly in Asian cultures, associated with the morality, honor, and authority of an individual (or group of individuals), and its image in social groups. Face refers to a sociological concept i ...
* Guilt * Guilty pleasure * Humiliation * Idiosyncrasy *
Inferiority complex In psychology, an inferiority complex is an intense personal feeling of inadequacy, often resulting in the belief that one is in some way deficient, or inferior, to others. According to Alfred Adler, a feeling of inferiority may be brought ab ...
*
Modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...
*
Moral emotions Moral emotions are a variety of social emotion that are involved in forming and communicating moral judgments and decisions, and in motivating behavioral responses to one's own and others' moral behavior. Background Moral reasoning has been the fo ...
*
Personal distress In psychology, personal distress is an aversive, self-focused emotional reaction (e.g., anxiety, worry, discomfort) to the apprehension or comprehension of another's emotional state or condition. This negative affective state often occurs as a resu ...
* Self-deprecation * Shame


References

Notes Sources *


External links


Bibliography of Embarrassment ResearchEmbarrassment Research Information
{{Authority control Bullying Emotions Psychological abuse