Search:

Home | Society


What Is Embarrassment?

By: Gary M. Miller

What is embarrassment? Embarrassment is a form of emotion that makes us feel professionally or socially wrong in regards to words, thoughts and actions, as perceived and pointed out to us by other people. This can result in some loss of personal dignity or honor, but the type and amount is all Dependant on the situation at the time.

Embarrassment has been confused by some with shame. Shame is different in that the person who has been shamed has done something that to others or society is considered to be wrong morally.

There are two main forms of embarrassment, including professional and personal. Each one has distinctive, but similar characteristics.

Professional

Professional embarrassment or official embarrassment is defined by a lack of confidence in actions taken or the deliberate ignoring of evidence in work. When this involves embarrassment at work or on official business, this may have come as a result of the loss of materials, money or even life. Some examples of these include corrupt government practices, failure in public policies, unethical forms of behavior, personal actions and habits of a public figure that face legal redress or public opinion, or alternatively official people caught in personal situations that cause them embarrassment.

Such forms of embarrassment do not need to be major in nature. The tiniest miscalculation or error can result in more official or public embarrassment, especially if this relates to safety of people. One example of this can be found in the Challenger space shuttle disaster, where human error prior to the launch resulted in the deaths of all the astronauts, NASA was publicly embarrassed and the errors/miscalculations could have been avoided had proper action been taken.

Of course, not every professional type embarrassment becomes so publicly known. Some events occur that create embarrassment, but for the person themselves. An example of this is when a political candidate loses an election. The person involved has not done anything wrong, but the hopes of many of the people supporting this person were dashed and as a result the candidate will feel embarrassment. Alternatively, a medical researcher can propose a theory that is widely upheld by the medical community, only to find that they did not account for something in that theory and someone proves the theory to be invalid. The researcher would not be publicly embarrassed as much as they would feel a lower level of personal embarrassment.

Generally speaking, official or public embarrassment results in a public outrage, the denial of any involvement on the part of the person who caused the embarrassing situation, or an attempt to make the embarrassment not look as bad or serious as it appears. In some cases, the embarrassed party will take steps to remedy the situation by issuing press releases/statements, resign their position, move, avoid the press or the general public, accept a demotion or loss of employment and may even behave as if there was nothing that occurred.

Personal

Embarrassment can be more personal. In this case the person can have unwanted intrusion into their personal affairs or mistakes. Their character may even be questioned by others, especially when the embarrassment is as a result of such actions a lying, losing a competition, burping, passing wind or being caught in the act of sex. In some cultures, incorrect forms of dress are considered embarrassing.

Another form of this embarrassment can come as the result of what other people do to the embarrassed person. Some examples include a parent showing baby pictures to the boyfriend of their daughter that they hardly know, unwarranted comments or criticism about the way that person is attired or behaving, being the topic of unknown gossip, personal rejection, being pushed into being a focal point of attention, or seeing someone else getting embarrassed.

When a person is personally embarrassed, for whatever reason, they can experience one or all of the following reactions:

• Blushing
• Nervousness
• Sweating
• Fidgeting
• Stammering
• Twitching

Most people will initially try to cover up their feeling of embarrassment by laughing in a nervous fashion or donning a weak smile. This is perfectly normal in situations where a breach of etiquette has occurred. In more embarrassing situations, though, a person, may faint, cry or even runaway.

Embarrassment is a normal reaction to situations where a loss of face, mistake or even a willful error has been made. Each person has a different response to embarrassing situations, and Dependant on the person’s standards and the situation itself, the person may not feel embarrassed at all.

Article Source: http://www.newagelivingarticles.com

Gary Miller was so scared that he actually passed out during a presentation and couldn't talk after due to numerous social anxieties. To learn more about his journey to recovery and weekly FREE Social Anxiety coping techniques, you can visit his web site at: www.Social-Anxiety-Cure.com

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Society Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Society


banner











Sign Up for a free account or learn more.
Article Directory Software
Click here to download the exact software that powers this directory for FREE. Start your own article directory today!
Google














Top Authors
Submit Articles
Member Login
Most Popular Articles
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Little Book Of Becoming
Masters of the Secret
The Singularity Is Near
Distribute Your Articles to 1000's!
Wildwind Enterprises
Bookstore
About Us
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
LINKS

All Links DirectoryAll Links Directory is 100% SEO friendly Directory and Human Edited.

Dominate The Search Engines with this software

Make Money Being an Affiliate with this software it's easy!

Learn How to Make Daily Profits Online starting Right Now!

Idiot Proof Clickbank Trick Makes $6,513 In 24 Hours

Amazing New Discovery: True psychokinesis easy to Use. Learn to control it for manifestation, healing, karmic repair with chakras.Visit us to find out how This Is 'PK' Mind Over Matter (Ebook, Free Download) fosters positive permanent change!

Submit Your Articles Quick and Easy with this software!

Get Keyword Elite and never hunt for keywords again!

Gaiam.com, Inc
Spiritual Cinema Circle
Visit the metaphysical directory for a complete list of metaphysics related websites.
Royalty Free Images
NewAgeLivingArticles.com » Copyright © 2007-2009 WildWind Enterprises
Terms of Service | Submission Guidelines | Contact Us | Link to Us| Privacy Policy | About Us | Article Submissions With A Click 100's of Sites!

Powered by Article Dashboard