Embarrassment can be hard to live down By Sean Coughlan The lightning bolt of embarrassment can leave you flushed, frozen and the memory can linger for years. But what makes it such a powerful emotion?
Embarrassment can be hard to live down By Sean Coughlan The lightning bolt of embarrassment can leave you flushed, frozen and the memory can linger for years. But what makes it such a powerful emotion?
Embarrassment has its own painful, cringe-making place in everyone's memory. Who hasn't felt that agonising spasm of acute embarrassment? Even years later, the awfulness can linger.
Embarrassment has its own painful, cringe-making place in everyone's memory. Who hasn't felt that agonising spasm of acute embarrassment? Even years later, the awfulness can linger.
Even watching complete strangers on television embarrassing themselves can fill the room with that uncomfortable, toe-curling sensation.
Even watching complete strangers on television embarrassing themselves can fill the room with that uncomfortable, toe-curling sensation.
Author and broadcaster Brian King has attempted to get below the blushing skin and examine how the malign lightning bolt of embarrassment can suddenly leave us feeling exposed and ridiculous.
Author and broadcaster Brian King has attempted to get below the blushing skin and examine how the malign lightning bolt of embarrassment can suddenly leave us feeling exposed and ridiculous.
Paul Merton enjoys Angus Deayton's embarrassment"It's that sudden failure in how we present ourselves, with a perceived loss of public esteem. And it often feels much worse than it really is," says King.
Paul Merton enjoys Angus Deayton's embarrassment"It's that sudden failure in how we present ourselves, with a perceived loss of public esteem. And it often feels much worse than it really is," says King.
There are lots of grimly enjoyable stories, not just the usual round of doomed job interviews and sexual disasters. Embarrassment can be more subtle.
There are lots of grimly enjoyable stories, not just the usual round of doomed job interviews and sexual disasters. Embarrassment can be more subtle.
The former Shakespearean actor and Star Trek star, Patrick Stewart, recalls a time he was watching television alone in a hotel room and stumbled upon an episode of Next Generation which he barely remembered having filmed.
The former Shakespearean actor and Star Trek star, Patrick Stewart, recalls a time he was watching television alone in a hotel room and stumbled upon an episode of Next Generation which he barely remembered having filmed.
"I had forgotten that I'd ordered room service," he says. "The man arrived with my order. He looked at the television and looked at me with such pity."
"I had forgotten that I'd ordered room service," he says. "The man arrived with my order. He looked at the television and looked at me with such pity."
That's the comic timing of embarrassment, in a split second it can turn even a movie star into a lonely loser pouring over past glories.
That's the comic timing of embarrassment, in a split second it can turn even a movie star into a lonely loser poring over past glories.
Feel for others
Feel for others
It's not an emotion like guilt or regret, because no harm is intended to others. If you get drunk at an office party and insult someone, you might feel guilty. But if you tell them that you love them, that's when you feel embarrassed.
It's not an emotion like guilt or regret, because no harm is intended to others. If you get drunk at an office party and insult someone, you might feel guilty. But if you tell them that you love them, that's when you feel embarrassed.
A prerequisite for embarrassment is to be able to feel how others feel - you have to be empathetic Professor Ray Crozier It can also be the irresistible move towards to the worst possible outcome, says King, author of the book, Walking In on Mum and Dad.
A prerequisite for embarrassment is to be able to feel how others feel - you have to be empathetic Professor Ray Crozier It can also be the irresistible move towards to the worst possible outcome, says King, author of the book, Walking In on Mum and Dad.
"German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, attending a solemn ceremony at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, was invited to turn a handle to boost the eternal flame commemorating the death of millions of Jews during the Holocaust.
"German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, attending a solemn ceremony at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, was invited to turn a handle to boost the eternal flame commemorating the death of millions of Jews during the Holocaust.
"To the acute embarrassment of everyone present, the chancellor turned the handle in the wrong direction and extinguished the flame."
"To the acute embarrassment of everyone present, the chancellor turned the handle in the wrong direction and extinguished the flame."
The common thread in embarrassment is the sudden puncturing of our attempts to look competent, whether it's in the boardroom or the bedroom.
The common thread in embarrassment is the sudden puncturing of our attempts to look competent, whether it's in the boardroom or the bedroom.
"We have this fundamental human need to be respected and not to look foolish," King says. And losing self-esteem "can feel like the world has ended".
"We have this fundamental human need to be respected and not to look foolish," King says. And losing self-esteem "can feel like the world has ended".
An example of such a raw nerve involves bedding and someone who, even years later, doesn't want to be identified.
An example of such a raw nerve involves bedding and someone who, even years later, doesn't want to be identified.
A young man from a modest home, he had grown up using blankets and sheets, and had never had a duvet. When he arrived at university and was faced with an unfamiliar duvet cover, he had clambered inside each night, sleeping-bag style, doing up the buttons under his chin.
A young man from a modest home, he had grown up using blankets and sheets, and had never had a duvet. When he arrived at university and was faced with an unfamiliar duvet cover, he had clambered inside each night, sleeping-bag style, doing up the buttons under his chin.
All was well until his first girlfriend came to visit - it was she who had to break the news about the correct bed covering technique to him.
All was well until his first girlfriend came to visit - it was she who had to break the news about the correct bed covering technique to him.
Why blush?
Why blush?
Embarrassment is about social situations, but it also has physical symptoms - such as blushing. It is a uniquely human response, common to all cultures as a sign of sudden social awkwardness.
Embarrassment is about social situations, but it also has physical symptoms - such as blushing. It is a uniquely human response, common to all cultures as a sign of sudden social awkwardness.
Ray Crozier, professor of psychology at the University of East Anglia, has researched the psychology of embarrassment and is author of Blushing and the Social Emotions.
Ray Crozier, professor of psychology at the University of East Anglia, has researched the psychology of embarrassment and is author of Blushing and the Social Emotions.
Flintoff explains his embarrassment after the pedalo incidentHe describes blushing - which can affect the face, neck or upper chest - as a "very odd phenomenon" which isn't yet fully understood.
Flintoff explains his embarrassment after the pedalo incidentHe describes blushing - which can affect the face, neck or upper chest - as a "very odd phenomenon" which isn't yet fully understood.
The function of blushing, in evolutionary terms, could once have been to signal that someone had made an accidental mistake, admitting to an error and so avoiding a confrontation. But there are people who are so self-conscious about blushing they have operations to prevent it, cutting the nerve that creates the blush.
The function of blushing, in evolutionary terms, could once have been to signal that someone had made an accidental mistake, admitting to an error and so avoiding a confrontation. But there are people who are so self-conscious about blushing they have operations to prevent it, cutting the nerve that creates the blush.
Instead of feeling awkward about being easily embarrassed, Professor Crozier says it's a sign of greater emotional intelligence.
Instead of feeling awkward about being easily embarrassed, Professor Crozier says it's a sign of greater emotional intelligence.
"A prerequisite for embarrassment is to be able to feel how others feel - you have to be empathetic, intelligent to the social situation," he says.
"A prerequisite for embarrassment is to be able to feel how others feel - you have to be empathetic, intelligent to the social situation," he says.
Social anxieties
Social anxieties
Embarrassment is a way of making us adhere to social codes so that we don't insult our friends, reveal our basic instincts or show too much of our private emotions. People who are unembarrassable are likely to be poor at reading social situations. So while everyone else cringes, they plough on, unable to pick up the sensitivities of the situation.
Embarrassment is a way of making us adhere to social codes so that we don't insult our friends, reveal our basic instincts or show too much of our private emotions. People who are unembarrassable are likely to be poor at reading social situations. So while everyone else cringes, they plough on, unable to pick up the sensitivities of the situation.
Embarrassment is a comedy stapleProfessor Crozier defines embarrassment as when we accidentally "contradict the identity we want to project, leaving a quite disabling sense of being exposed".
Embarrassment is a comedy stapleProfessor Crozier defines embarrassment as when we accidentally "contradict the identity we want to project, leaving a quite disabling sense of being exposed".
And the car-crash moment when it happens is like a "little death" - everything seems to stop, time seems to stand still and we talk about being "frozen" or "dying of embarrassment" or being "mortified".
And the car-crash moment when it happens is like a "little death" - everything seems to stop, time seems to stand still and we talk about being "frozen" or "dying of embarrassment" or being "mortified".
But what do we do when it happens, and how best to recover?
But what do we do when it happens, and how best to recover?
"The best way to deal with embarrassment is to talk about it," says workplace psychologist Gary Fitzgibbon. "If you skulk off, you're left with it. You mustn't let the embarrassment dominate."
"The best way to deal with embarrassment is to talk about it," says workplace psychologist Gary Fitzgibbon. "If you skulk off, you're left with it. You mustn't let the embarrassment dominate."
Once you admit to what's happened and talk about it, everyone will feel much more relaxed and they'll be laughing with you rather than at you.
Once you admit to what's happened and talk about it, everyone will feel much more relaxed and they'll be laughing with you rather than at you.
As a way of developing social skills, one therapy he has used is to get people to talk in a group about their own worst embarrassing moments, helping them to face down their social anxieties.
As a way of developing social skills, one therapy he has used is to get people to talk in a group about their own worst embarrassing moments, helping them to face down their social anxieties.
Or else there's the white lie. But this can add to the confusion, as Bill Bryson found after he stumbled into his parents' bedroom at just the wrong moment.
Or else there's the white lie. But this can add to the confusion, as Bill Bryson found after he stumbled into his parents' bedroom at just the wrong moment.
"To my surprise, the shades were drawn and my parents were in bed wrestling under the sheets. More astonishingly still, my mother was winning. My father was obviously in some distress. He was making a noise like a small trapped animal.
"To my surprise, the shades were drawn and my parents were in bed wrestling under the sheets. More astonishingly still, my mother was winning. My father was obviously in some distress. He was making a noise like a small trapped animal.
"'What are you doing?' I asked. 'Ah, Billy, your mother is just checking my teeth,' my father replied. I believe you are supposed to be traumatised by these things. I can't remember being troubled at all, though it was some years before I let my mother look in my mouth again."
"'What are you doing?' I asked. 'Ah, Billy, your mother is just checking my teeth,' my father replied. I believe you are supposed to be traumatised by these things. I can't remember being troubled at all, though it was some years before I let my mother look in my mouth again."
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