Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Sep 4:15:1437298.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1437298. eCollection 2024.

Embarrassment as a public vs. private emotion and symbolic coping behaviour

Meikel Soliman  1
Affiliations

Embarrassment as a public vs. private emotion and symbolic coping behaviour

Meikel Soliman. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

In dealing with embarrassment, individuals engage in symbolic coping behaviours (e.g., hiding one's face by wearing sunglasses). Research investigated these behaviours when embarrassment is experienced as a public emotion (e.g., others present). Contrary, there is emerging evidence showing that embarrassment can be experienced as a private emotion (e.g., no others present) as well. This is why the present research seeks to enhance previous work on symbolic coping behaviours and investigates to what extent symbolic coping behaviours differ when embarrassment is experienced in public and private. First, the present study finds that individuals experience embarrassment as a private as well as a public emotion. Second, both types of embarrassment relate to symbolic coping behaviours. Third, while both types of embarrassment experience a preference for face-hiding products there are differences in symbolic coping behaviours. Fourth, the study transfers extant research to a different cultural context.

Keywords: context; emotion; private embarrassment; public embarrassment; symbolic coping.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experienced embarrassment and symbolic coping.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Face-hiding products as a function of social context.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Face-restoring products as a function of social context.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Face-washing products as a function of social context.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Apsler R. (1975). Effects of embarrassment on behavior toward others. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 32, 145–153. doi: 10.1037/h0076699 - DOI
    1. Babcock M. K. (1988). Embarrassment: a window on the self. J. Theory Soc. Behav. 18, 459–483. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5914.1988.tb00510.x - DOI
    1. Bastin C., Harrison B. J., Davey C. G., Moll J., Whittle S. (2016). Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: a systematic review. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 71, 455–471. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blair S., Roese N. J. (2013). Balancing the basket: the role of shopping basket composition in embarrassment. J. Consum. Res. 40, 676–691. doi: 10.1086/671761 - DOI
    1. Dahl D. W., Manchanda R. V., Argo J. J. (2001). Embarrassment in consumer purchase: the role of social presence and purchase familiarity. J. Consum. Res. 28, 473–481. doi: 10.1086/323734 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources