Often Red in the Face? Don't Worry, Embarrassment Is a Virtue

Embarrassment can be an acutely uncomfortable emotion. And what's worse it has staying power -- who can't recall with painful exactitude the feeling of being caught badmouthing a colleague, walking around with toilet paper on your shoe or accidentally saying something idiotic in a meeting? But if you're the type to blush easily at least you can take comfort in new research showing that a tendency to embarrassment isn't all bad.

For the study out of UC Berkeley, researchers asked 60 undergrads to recount past embarrassments like public flatulence of mistaking an overweight woman for a pregnant one and scored their level of embarrassment. They then asked the same subjects to participate in a standard test measuring altruism known as the dictator game. What did the results show?

Those who were more embarrassed were also more trustworthy and generous. Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a coauthor of the study, commented: "Embarrassment is one emotional signature of a person to whom you can entrust valuable resources. It's part of the social glue that fosters trust and cooperation in everyday life."

This makes sense. If you're worried about how you come off, you're necessarily concerned about the thoughts and feelings of others. Those who are oblivious to others' judgment are clearly more self-focused. Another coauthor, doctoral student Matthew Feinberg, called embarrassment a sign of virtue, explaining:

Our data suggests embarrassment is a good thing, not something you should fight. Time and again, the results showed that embarrassment signals people's tendency to be pro-social. You want to affiliate with them more, you feel comfortable trusting them.

The findings are useful for office workers in search of reliable team members, but may also help out daters -- researchers also found that the easily embarrassed showed higher levels of monogamy.

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