Effects of Being Observed by a Friend or Stranger on Felt Embarrassment and Attributions of Embarrassment

Summary

An experiment with 32 college students investigated the effects of being observed by a friend or stranger on the embarrassment felt by an actor in a staged encounter with an experimental confederate. When a stranger observed the interaction, actors felt greater embarrassment than when a friend observed the interaction. Analysis of attributional data showed that actors took less personal responsibility for the embarrassing episode than observers assigned them, in keeping with an ego-defensive explanation. There was also some indication that actors observed by a stranger attributed less responsibility to themselves for the embarrassment than did actors observed by a friend.