Embarrassment: The effects of embarrassor and target perceptions |
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| Authors: | William F Sharkey Cailin Kulp B Marie Carpenter Christy Lee Ursula Rodillas |
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| Institution: | 1. Associate Professor in the Department of Speech , University of Hawai'i , Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822;2. Doctoral student in the Speech Communication Department , University of Texas , Austin, TX, 78712;3. Doctoral student in the Department of Commuication , Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, 48824;4. Lecturer in the Department of Speech , University of Hawai'i , Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822;5. University of Hawai'i |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated the role perception plays in embarrassing situations between same‐sex friends. We argued that when two same‐sex friends share a common experience where one was embarrassed due to something the friend did or said, the embarrassors and targets would differ in (a) their perceptions relating to the degree of embarrassment falt, (b) their attribution of intentionality, and (c) the degree to which the embarrassment affected their relationship. One hundred and sixty‐three same‐sex friend dyads were asked to report their perceptions about a commonly shared embarrassing incident. Results showed that only 52.5% (n = 84) of the embarrassors recognized that the target experienced embarrassment. Further analyses were then conducted on these 84 dyads. We found that embarrassors and targets tend to agree on the intent of the embarrassor. However, no associations were found between perspective and degree of embarrassment felt nor degree of relationship consequences. Implications of the findings and limitations are discussed. |
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