The remedial value of blushing in the context of transgressions and mishaps.

This study investigated the remedial value of blushing in the context of clear-cut predicaments. Besides testing the effects of displaying a blush on a neutral expression, we investigated whether blushing increased the remedial properties of shameful and embarrassed expressions. After reading a vignette describing either a transgression (Experiment 1; N = 66) or a mishap (Experiment 2; N = 62), participants saw pictures of people with or without a blush and rated them on several dimensions (e.g., sympathy, trustworthiness). The results of both experiments supported the hypothesis that blushing has remedial properties. In most instances, blushing actors were evaluated more favorably than their nonblushing counterparts. Although people often consider blushing to be an undesirable response, our results showed that, in the context of transgressions and mishaps, blushing is a helpful bodily signal with face-saving properties.

本研究在明确的困境情境下探究了脸红的补救价值。除了测试在中性表情上呈现脸红的效果外，我们还研究了脸红是否会增强羞愧和尴尬表情的补救特性。在阅读描述违规行为（实验1；N = 66）或不幸事件（实验2；N = 62）的小故事后，参与者观看有脸红和无脸红的人的图片，并在几个维度（例如，同情心、可信度）上对他们进行评分。两个实验的结果都支持了脸红具有补救特性这一假设。在大多数情况下，脸红的行为者比不脸红的行为者得到更有利的评价。尽管人们常常认为脸红是一种不受欢迎的反应，但我们的结果表明，在违规和不幸事件的情境中，脸红是一种具有保全面子特性的有益身体信号。