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The Why Factor: Embarrassment

Embarrassment

24/10/2014

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Embarrassment

What is embarrassment, why do we feel it and is it a good thing? Mike Williams finds out

We’ve all felt squirms of embarrassment when we wanted the ground to swallow us up. Mike Williams discovers why we feel embarrassed and if there’s any prospect of relief from it.

A knot in the stomach, a blush to the face, a wish that the ground would swallow us up and end our misery. We’ve all experienced embarrassment and wished it would never happen again. 

But why do experience these feelings and what do they mean? Mike Williams asks psychotherapist Philippa Perry to explain embarrassment and what it says about us and how other people see us.  

Dr Jieyu Liu, deputy director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, tells Mike how the different generations in China view the reasons for embarrassment and how far it differs from “loss of face”.  She also discusses how it is possible to feel embarrassed for “the nation”. 

And former top cricketer and sports commentator, Ed Smith, reveals how sportsmen and women deal with embarrassment and whether it can be managed for better performance and results.

Produced by Simon Coates

(Image of a woman looking embarrassed. Credit: Shutterstock)

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