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by game masta on January 31st, 2006

game masta

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What causes embarrassment?

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  • by CuriousGTime on February 1st, 2006

    CuriousGTime

    Embarrassment is caused by doing something awkward in your culture. As humans, we grow up following a certain set of norms that society ingrains in us. Part of this includes the notion of "feeling bad," embarrassed, or awkward about certain things in front of others. But these things change from culture to culture. For example, people from different cultures stand at different distances from each other. Some cultures have a notion that people need a certain amount of physical personal space, so if people stand too close to one another, they will feel awkward and want to move further away. Other cultures are more intimate and would feel awkward if everybody stood far apart. So to directly answer the question - society has ingrained in us the notion of what to be embarrassed about and what is considered acceptable behavior.

    A few more examples of why culture is the reason:
    - Different cultures (such as the Egyptian culture) find it strange if you finish everything you're eating off of your plate. If you lived in that culture, you would likely be embarrassed to finish everything off of your plate and therefore leave a small portion of food. Other cultures (such as parts of United States) find it strange if you don't clear your plate of food. I know of some people who would be embarrassed or feel awkward if they didn't clear their plate.
    - Different cultures greet each other in different ways. In Russia and Italy it is common pratice to kiss somebody on the cheek to greet them. However, that would cause embarrassment for most people in the United States because our culture does not generally follow that practice unless you are very intimate with the person or they are family.

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    • Good answer! Go have yourself an ice-cream cone!

      Answers101

      by Answers101 on March 31st, 2006

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