The relationship between blushing propensity, social anxiety and facial blood flow during embarrassment

To investigate blushing in relation to blushing propensity scores and core elements of social anxiety, facial blood flow was monitored in 86 normal volunteers during an embarrassing task (singing a children's song). Increases in facial blood flow were greater in women than men, as were scores on the Blushing Propensity and Fear of Negative Evaluation scales. In addition, high scores on the Blushing Propensity and Social Interaction Anxiety scales were associated with large increases in facial blood flow during singing. However, this appeared to be due primarily to social anxiety because the association between blushing propensity scores and changes in facial blood flow disappeared when social interaction anxiety scores were taken into account. These findings suggest that people generally base their beliefs about blushing on cues other than changes in facial blood flow. Social anxiety may augment increases in facial blood flow during embarrassment, independently of expected or perceived blushing.     

The relationship between blushing propensity,social anxiety and facial blood flow during embarrassment

To investigate blushing in relation to blushing propensity scores and core elements of social anxiety, facial blood flow was monitored in 86 normal volunteers during an embarrassing task (singing a children's song). Increases in facial blood flow were greater in women than men, as were scores on the Blushing Propensity and Fear of Negative Evaluation scales. In addition, high scores on the Blushing Propensity and Social Interaction Anxiety scales were associated with large increases in facial blood flow during singing. However, this appeared to be due primarily to social anxiety because the association between blushing propensity scores and changes in facial blood flow disappeared when social interaction anxiety scores were taken into account. These findings suggest that people generally base their beliefs about blushing on cues other than changes in facial blood flow. Social anxiety may augment increases in facial blood flow during embarrassment, independently of expected or perceived blushing.     

The impact of verbal feedback about blushing on social discomfort and facial blood flow during embarrassing tasks

To investigate whether verbal feedback about blushing influences subsequent social discomfort or blushing itself, changes in facial blood flow and ratings of blushing and embarrassment were investigated in high (N=28) and low scorers (N=28) on the Blushing Propensity scale while singing and reading aloud, and while listening to audiotapes of their performance. After each task half of the participants were told that they had blushed, and the rest were told that they had not blushed. Blood flow increased progressively in participants with high blushing propensity scores who were given "blushing" feedback, but not in the other participants. This finding suggests that expecting to blush may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Verbal feedback about blushing strongly influenced subsequent social discomfort, and mimicked the effects of blushing propensity on ratings of embarrassment and blushing intensity. In sum, the findings support the view that preconceptions about blushing propensity are shaped by past learning experiences, that concern about blushing is a major source of discomfort in embarrassing situations, and that these concerns are often unrelated to the actual intensity of blushing.     

Embarrassability and self-construal: A theoretical integration

This study investigates embarrassability and its association to three individual difference variables:

1. (1) social anxiety,

2. (2) a person's interdependent self-construal (i.e. interconnectedness), and

3. (3) independent self-construal (i.e. bounded, separateness).

Previous theories of embarrassment are integrated in relating these individual differences to the process of embarrassment and individual level embarrassability. It is suggested that embarrassment can be traced to three factors:

1. (1) the strength of one's idealized role-identity (as bounded and separate) going into the interaction,

2. (2) the sensitivity to others' evaluations as the interaction unfolds, and

3. (3) the degree to which one's identity is entwined with and dependent on others.

Three-hundred and seventy-one students, representing diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, composed the sample. Even after accounting for the effects of social anxiety, the strength of a person's independent self-construal is negatively associated with embarrassability. Beyond those effects, the strength of the interdependent self-construal is positively related to embarrassability. These findings support the hypothesized model and contribute to the criticism that the previous western conceptualization of embarrassability is ethnocentric and restricts the construct. Implications and directions for future research are provided.     

Embarrassment and empathy before helping: How internal working models come into play

Prior research has described embarrassment and empathy as predictors of social helping and as self-conscious emotions involving reasoning about the self and others. It remains unclear how cognitive representations of the self and others relate to the two emotions as precursors of social helping. We examined 136 participants’ self-report measures of internal working models as well as dispositional embarrassability, empathic concern, personal distress, and perspective taking. Controlling all the other variables, embarrassability was primarily associated with the model of self and personal distress, whereas empathic concern was primarily associated with the model of others and perspective taking. Moreover, the association between personal distress and embarrassability was moderated by the interaction between models of others and perspective taking. The general proneness to distress arousal was also predicted by the interaction between models of self and others. The findings extended prior research linking internal working models and socio-cognitive emotions associated with helping.     

Social Effects of Facial Blushing: Influence of Context and Actor Versus Observer Perspective

Blushing is restricted to the facial area that is uncovered and in the center of social attention. Together with the observation that blushing typically occurs in interpersonal situations, it has been proposed that the blush might have acquired signaling properties with relevant social implications. Following such a functional perspective, this article evaluates the signal value and social effects of the blush. First, it is argued that the blush fulfils all criteria for being a reliable social signal. It seems impossible to fake or to suppress, and it seems to co‐occur with a specific mental state: The acute awareness that one’s goal of esteem before others is at stake. Second, it is illustrated that the social effects of the blush may greatly vary as a function of context. In contexts that clearly imply some kind of misbehavior, the blush has face‐saving properties. Yet, in many other contexts, such as merely being the center of attention or situations that are ambiguous with regard to the blushing actors’ antecedent behaviors, the blush may have undesirable effects. Third, it is illustrated that the signal value of the blush not only affects the observers but also the blushing actors. It is shown that the anticipated influence of one’s blushing on other people’s judgments may help explain why actors often consider blushing as a highly undesirable response, and why some people may even develop a phobic fear of blushing.     

Paving the Way? Penalty and Atonement in Thomas Aquinas's Soteriology

This article explores the soteriology of Thomas Aquinas. In particular, it considers recent debates over whether Thomas altered Anselm's satisfaction theory in a way which opened the door to the later theory of penal substitution. The article argues that Thomas did indeed alter Anselm's atonement theory in this way insofar as he incorporates punishment within his concept of satisfaction; however, it further contends that his use of ‘placation’ or ‘appeasement’ language does not contribute to such an alteration.     

On the Nature of Embarrassabllity: Shyness, Social Evaluation, and Social Skill

In this study, the correlates of embarrassability, or chronic susceptibility to embarrassment, were examined. Competing theoretical models suggest either that embarrassable people should be especially concerned about others' evaluations of them or that they should lack social skills. Further, shyness and embarrassment are typically considered to be closely related states. To test these propositions, 310 participants provided extensive self-reports of social skill, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, self-consciousness, and negative affectivity. Regression and factor analyses indicated that, compared to those of low embarrassability, highly embarrassable people are particularly concerned with the normative appropriateness of behavior and are more motivated to avoid rejection from others. In contrast, shyness was best predicted by low social self-confidence and low social skill. The data best support a social-evaluation model of embarrassment and argue that embarrassability is linked to the appropriateness of social behavior, and shyness to its effectiveness.     

Social blushing.

This article reviews theory and research regarding the physiology, situational and dispositional antecedents, behavioral concomitants, and interpersonal consequences of social blushing and offers a new theoretical account of blushing. This model posits that people blush when they experience undesired social attention. Puzzling questions involving blushing in solitude, the phenomenology of blushing, types of blushing, and blushing in dark-skinned people are discussed.     

The significance of blushing for fair- and dark-skinned people

Since blushing is difficult to detect in people with dark skin, their experience of blushing may differ fundamentally from people with fair skin. To investigate this issue, cheek temperature and forehead blood flow were measured in 16 Caucasians and 16 Indians during mental arithmetic and singing. Caucasians (particularly females) thought that they blushed more intensely than Indians, and also reported greater self-consciousness when singing. Vascular responses did not differ between groups. However, skin tone moderated the association between vascular responses and ratings of self-consciousness, blushing intensity, blushing propensity and fear of negative evaluation. These findings support the notion that the visibility of blushing influences the nature of emotions experienced in embarrassing social encounters.     

Assessment of dispositional embarrassability

Abstract

Embarrassability, the propensity for an individual to experience embarrassment, has been frequently acknowledged as an important personality characteristic. The present research sought to explore the dispositional features of embarrassability by the psychometric development of 25-item measure, the Susceptibility to Embarrassment Scale (SES). The SES was designed to describe the personality characteristics of easily embarrassed persons rather than reactions to potentially embarrassing situations. The results indicated that the SES was an internally consistent and temporally stable measure. Its items were uncontaminated by social desirability. Assessments of construct validity suggested that the scale was a valid measure of embarrassability, and specifically a better measure of dispositional components of embarrassability than the only alternative measure of the construct. The location of the SES within the Big Five structure of normal adult personality is presented as well as its relationship with measures of deviant personality.     

The ironic impact of intergroup apologies on intergroup attitudes: Understanding the role of perceived power for post‐apology outgroup attitudes

The present research investigates how intergroup apologies, defined as apologies between two groups, affect perceived remorse and outgroup attitudes (e.g., explicit and implicit), in the context of power asymmetries. We recruited participants from two countries that differ in perceived power: South Korea and the United States. Participants read a vignette describing a violent act committed by an outgroup member (Korean or American), with or without an intergroup apology. Participants answered questions assessing perceived remorse and explicit attitudes toward the outgroup, followed by the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). Results revealed that Koreans perceived less remorse following an intergroup apology from the United States, compared to when they did not read an intergroup apology. Further, a mediated moderation analysis indicated that perceived remorse mediated the relationship between apology and explicit attitudes towards the United States. However, an analogous effect for implicit attitudes was only marginally significant. In contrast, among American participants, no effect of the apology on perceived remorse, explicit attitudes, or implicit attitudes and no evidence for a mediation was found. We discuss the implications of these effects on understanding the effectiveness of intergroup apologies between countries that differ in perceived power.     

An emerging theory of apology

There is no consensus in the psychological literature regarding the operational definition of an apology, nor is there a comprehensive theory of apology. The object of this study was to use a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and grounded theory methodology to develop a theory of apology based on lay people's interpretation of apologetic responses. Data were methodically gathered by interviewing 23 people who had been wronged by an intimate partner. The analysis of the data suggests that there is not a single discrete definition of an apology, but that it is more appropriate to conceptualise apology as a process that consists of one or more of three components: affect, affirmation, and action. Each of these components has two categories; one that reflects a self‐focus on the part of the wrongdoer, and the other a self–other focus. What will be accepted as a good enough apology appears to depend on the severity of the consequences of the wrong, the level of responsibility attributed to the wrongdoer, and the perceived wrongfulness of the behaviour.     

如何道歉更有效:调节聚焦与信息框架的作用

本研究结合调节聚焦理论探讨了如何道歉更有效。两个实验通过启动不同调节聚焦,创设冒犯情境并呈现不同框架的道歉信息,考察调节聚焦与道歉框架对道歉效果的影响。结果表明,向促进聚焦的受害者呈现积极框架的道歉信息、向防御聚焦的受害者呈现消极框架的道歉信息能改善受害者对冒犯者的评价,降低交往回避倾向,获得较好的道歉效果,且正确感是此种影响发生的内在机制。     

The effect of true and false feedback on blushing in women

The effect of true and false feedback of facial blood flow on blushing and embarrassment was investigated in high (n=24) and low (n=24) scorers on the Blushing Propensity Scale. Feedback was given while the participants sang and read aloud. Blushing while singing habituated rapidly in both groups and was not affected by true feedback. Blushing still developed in high scorers when given false-negative feedback of blushing when they first sang, whereas low scorers did not blush. False-positive feedback of blushing while reading aloud increased embarrassment, but facial blood flow decreased. High scorers gave higher ratings for embarrassment and blushing than low scorers during most of the tasks. The findings suggest that people who think that they are prone to blushing feel more self-conscious but generally do not blush more intensely or frequently than people with low blushing propensity scores during clearly embarrassing or innocuous social encounters. However, expecting to blush might actually increase the likelihood of embarrassment and blushing in potentially embarrassing situations.     

道歉：对冒犯事件的关系补救行为

道歉是指当冒犯者意识到自己的冒犯行为后, 为重建与被冒犯者的关系, 向被冒犯者承认错误、承担责任、表达懊悔并请求原谅的一种关系补救行为。冒犯者的性别、归因倾向、冒犯意图、知觉到的道歉有效性等影响道歉的发生, 道歉的表达方式与内容、冒犯者的性别等会影响道歉的有效性。道歉能促进宽恕、和解以及民族和睦。未来研究需明晰道歉的概念, 拓展其研究模式与测量工具, 在系统深入探讨道歉的产生机制与结果的基础上构建道歉的理论及促进其实践应用。     

Doing good buffers against feeling bad: Prosocial impact compensates for negative task and self-evaluations

Although evidence suggests that negative task and self-evaluations are associated with emotional exhaustion, little research has examined factors that buffer against these effects. We propose that perceived prosocial impact, the experience of helping others, compensates for negative task and self-evaluations by focusing attention on positive outcomes for others. In Study 1, perceived prosocial impact attenuated the associations of low intrinsic motivation and core self-evaluations with emotional exhaustion among professional fundraisers. Study 2 replicated these results among public sanitation employees and extended them to supervisor performance ratings. Mediated moderation analyses indicated that by protecting against emotional exhaustion, perceived prosocial impact compensated for low intrinsic motivation and core self-evaluations to predict higher performance ratings. Our studies extend theory and research on burnout, helping, and citizenship.     

Why group apologies succeed and fail: intergroup forgiveness and the role of primary and secondary emotions

It is widely assumed that official apologies for historical transgressions can lay the groundwork for intergroup forgiveness, but evidence for a causal relationship between intergroup apologies and forgiveness is limited. Drawing on the infrahumanization literature, we argue that a possible reason for the muted effectiveness of apologies is that people diminish the extent to which they see outgroup members as able to experience complex, uniquely human emotions (e.g., remorse). In Study 1, Canadians forgave Afghanis for a friendly-fire incident to the extent that they perceived Afghanis as capable of experiencing uniquely human emotions (i.e., secondary emotions such as anguish) but not nonuniquely human emotions (i.e., primary emotions such as fear). Intergroup forgiveness was reduced when transgressor groups expressed secondary emotions rather than primary emotions in their apology (Studies 2a and 2b), an effect that was mediated by trust in the genuineness of the apology (Study 2b). Indeed, an apology expressing secondary emotions aroused no more forgiveness than a no-apology control (Study 3) and less forgiveness than an apology with no emotion (Study 4). Consistent with an infrahumanization perspective, effects of primary versus secondary emotional expression did not emerge when the apology was offered for an ingroup transgression (Study 3) or when an outgroup apology was delivered through an ingroup proxy (Study 4). Also consistent with predictions, these effects were demonstrated only by those who tended to deny uniquely human qualities to the outgroup (Study 5). Implications for intergroup apologies and movement toward reconciliation are discussed.     

The role of shared practice in joint attention

The infant's participation in sequences of joint activity that require visual attention is usually seen as an outcome of and evidence for the existence of particular infant psychological competencies. In a review of the relevant literature, we suggest that what is presupposed in most theories of joint attention is the role that shared social practices play in understanding the mind. It is, in fact, with recourse to such practices that researchers theorize about the infant's understanding of mind in the first instance. We argue: (1) the mind is not an entity that is separable from human activity; (2) knowledge of shared practices is what the developing agent requires to come to an understanding of their own mind and that of others; and (3) rather than searching for the best indicator of a true competence lying behind and necessary for joint attention, we should consider the various forms of interaction involving shared attention as constitutive of varying degrees of understanding. We consider the relevance of these arguments for contemporary social developmental theory.     

Eliciting donations to disaster victims: Psychological considerations

Predictors of monetary donations to victims of humanitarian disasters were examined. Participants (N = 219) chose between donating to different scenarios and justified their choices in an open response format. This was followed by a questionnaire. The perceived extent of the victims’ Need, the Impact of a potential donation, and the Amount donated by others all influenced donation decisions. There was a three‐way interaction between these factors: The perceived Need for help only mattered if the perceived Impact of a donation was high, and the perceived Amount donated by others was small. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.