Effects of observer behavior on the feelings of embarrassment in a public situation

Abstract

This study had two purposes: first, we investigated the effects of observer behavior on feeling of embarrassment of an individual, and second, we explained the process of that effect. Participants read a scenario in which they felt embarrassment in front of a friend and the friend responded with one of four types of behavior (helpfulness, avoidance, being humorous, and other-monitoring.) or did not react at all. Participants were then asked to respond to items describing their feeling of embarrassment (Higuchi, 2000) and causal factors of embarrassment (Higuchi, 2001). To examine whether participants' feeling of embarrassment differed, one-way ANOVA and multiple comparison were conducted. These analyses revealed that “avoidance” behavior heightened feeling of embarrassment compared to “helpfulness” or “being humorous” behavior. Moreover, mediation analyses showed three causal factors of embarrassment (apprehension of social evaluation, disruption of social interaction, and loss of self-esteem) could mediate between avoidance behavior and feeling of embarrassment.