There are many different human emotions that have been discussed by psychologists and philosophers for over 2,000 years. Plato, Aristotle and Descartes have all had long and in-depth discussions about emotions. Through research in this modern day society, it seems the strongest emotion is highly subjective to the individual and while one will say fear, another might say jealously and yet another might say that love overrides them all. But what about embarrassment as an emotion? For this discussion we will be looking at three emotions, fear, jealously and embarrassment. Although previously unrecognized, I consider embarrassment to be a very strong and long lasting emotion, however, I was unable to find much research on the subject. In fact, embarrassment was only classified as an emotion in 2001 by being grouped as a tertiary (third category) emotion. If so, then why is it so powerful?
Fear
Fear is probably the oldest, most primitive, and reactive emotion that we possess, it is responsible for our "fight or flight" reactions, our very strongest survival instinct, and has been around since the very first living organism, from the "Cambrian" age, that developed a hard shell around itself for self-survival. In addition, other than a survival instinct, fear is also a learned emotional behavior, such as; fear of heights, fear of animals or fear of the dark. What some people may fear, others find exciting or acceptable like bungee jumping, parachuting, lion taming, or doing things like fishing and camping in the dark.
Jealously
In an article on charminghealth.com, jealously was best described in this way:
"Jealousy or jealous nature in a behavior represents one of the prominent negative emotions. At times jealousy is a natural, inevitable, reaction that usually indicates longing for those things which we have lost. Jealousy can be a learned social reaction as well as innate and instinctive for genetic survival. It is estimated that 20% to 35% of all murders involve a jealous lover."
Much like the "fight or flight" reaction, jealously can be an innate survival instinct of "genetic survival", however, when murder occurs, it is a pathological state that is usually accompanied by other psychological problems. It stems from the insecurity of having the ability to achieve or maintain the desired outcome whether it be career, possession or relationship related.
Embarrassment
Embarrassment, on the other hand, is an emotional state of intense discomfort with oneself, experienced upon having a socially unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others, and/or committing an act in private that one knowingly does against their own moral standards.
Today, cyber (social) bullies use these tactics to embarrass their victims by making derogatory remarks or giving away private information about the victim. These remarks can be about race, size, hair color, family history, job performance or even nose and ear shape.
According to the CDC there are about 4,400 teen deaths a year and a study in Great Britain said that half are due to bullying. Although all bullying does not necessarily involve embarrassment, a large majority does and the effects are devastating. In the modern world of status and notoriety, achievement is measured very differently by individuals than in former years, and therefore, embarrassment has become a very powerful tool in the competitive society of today.
Of the three emotions that we have discussed in this article, embarrassment seems to be the most enduring. Fear is strictly a reactive emotion, as is jealously, and decay sets in quite rapidly in both. After a car accident and/or a near death experience, fear can dominate one's emotions for days to years after the incident and jealously can be another long lasting emotion that can take days to years to overcome. However, most normal people do, in time, overcome fear of something or the situations that created the jealousy.
However, embarrassment, in some cases, depending on the context, can stay with one for their entire life. When a child is traumatized by a remark about their hair color, size, nose or ear shape, or family background, the trauma can and sometimes does, last a lifetime. Regardless of the level of the self-esteem one may have reached, some may look back at certain situations in their past and still feel embarrassed. Psychologists and counselors are very much in demand these days because of the effects of embarrassment and it is a subject that needs much more research in order to understand the intensity of its role in people of all ages.
Doyle L Young attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville as a non-degree seeking student of Psychology and Sociology, studied drama and Shakespeare at the College of London in London, England, and had sixteen years of understudy with Dr. Donald R. Morrison PhD.,Psychology.
Written by:Doyle L Young
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