SIGNS OF APPEASEMENT - EVIDENCE FOR THE DISTINCT DISPLAYS OF EMBARRASSMENT, AMUSEMENT, AND SHAME

According to appeasement hypotheses, embarrassment should have a disti nct nonverbal display that is more readily perceived when displayed by individuals from lower status groups. The evidence from 5 studies sup ported these two claims. The nonverbal behavior of embarrassment was d istinct from a related emotion (amusement), resembled the temporal pat tern of facial expressions of emotion, was uniquely related to self-re ports of embarrassment, and was accurately identified by observers who judged the spontaneous displays of various emotions. Across the judgm ent studies, observers were more accurate and attributed more emotion to the embarrassment displays of female and African-American targets t han those of male and Caucasian targets. Discussion focused on the uni versality and appeasement function of the embarrassment display.