Research On The Prosociality Of Embarrassment

The main purpose of this study is to test the prosociality of embarrassment, to explore whether explicit or implicit pro-social effects on embarrassment exist under Chinese culture and how Chinese people understand or experience embarrassment.In study 1, experimental material was collected and standardized. Though the experiment, a neutral embarrassment expression library was established for subsequent studies to use.Study 2 using questionnaires and IAT test, respectively tested the explicit and implicit pro-social effects on embarrassment.40 students from Beijing Forestry University participated the research. The result shows embarrassment pictures score higher than neutral pictures in anti-prosociality, p=.001; and lower in prosociality, p=.000. Subjects have a shorter reaction time in combining embarrassment with anti-social words (M=807.496) than with pro-social words (M=981.071),p=.000.Study 3 was a qualitative research. By interviewing 8 college students, it complemented and interpreted the results of the first two studies on a certain degree. Explored how Chinese people consider embarrassment.By two empirical studies and a qualitative interview, the study concluded that:(1) Embarrassment expression is less explicit pro-social than neutral expression;(2) Embarrassment expression is less implicit pro-social than neutral expression;(3) Defer from Western subjects, Chinese subjects considered embarrassment experience negative on important occasions; but embarrassment makes them feel pleasure occasionally;(4) Embarrassment associates most closely with negative emotional words, respondents likely to come up negative emotional with embarrassment.