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The social implications of embarrassment displays and restitution behaviour
Author(s) -
Semin Gün R.,
Manstead A. S. R.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2420120404
Subject(s) - embarrassment , restitution , psychology , social psychology , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , law , political science , paleontology , biology
The present study examines the evaluative consequences of two kinds of reaction to committing a social transgression. In an experimental study, embarrassment display and restitution behaviour were manipulated orthogonally in the context of a videotaped incident in which an actor was seen to upset a sales display in a store. Subjects were shown one of the four versions of this incident and asked to rate the actor responsible for the mishap. It was reasoned that both appearing embarrassed and engaging in restitution would have positive, but distinct, effects on social evaluation, and that the beneficial effect of restitution would be mitigated by embarrassment display. Results were consistent with these expectations. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the social function of embarrassment displays.