You Can Overcome Embarrassment with Mental Training, Fart-Filled Study Finds.

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Blushing is a uniquely human reaction.
Credit: Rebecca Abell |  Dreamstime.com
If a day goes by and you don't quietly relive the horror of some embarrassing thing you did in seventh grade, call a biologist, because you're probably not human.
Embarrassment is, regrettably, a basic human emotion. This week, researchers writing in the journal Motivation and Emotionoffered a deceptively simple tactic for overcoming it: leave your head.
Across several experiments which involved showing volunteers photos of people farting in public, the researchers determined that feelings of embarrassment could be noticeably reduced when participants put themselves in the shoes of an outside observer, rather than imagining themselves a victim of an embarrassing situation. According to the researcher, this may be easier said than done.
"Past research… shows that a heavy focus on oneself can intensify negative emotions," the researchers wrote in the new study, which was published online March 27. "For example, studies have shown that people asked to imagine publicly tripping a security alarm, failing a test, arriving at a party without a gift, or being introduced as someone who bed-wets believe observers  will judge them more harshlythan observers actually do."
When something embarrassing happens to you, chances are you focus too much on your own perspective and forget about the  empathy of others. Observers probably feel for you more than you know, and judge you less than you imagine. By stepping out of your own perspective and thinking more like an observer, the researchers hypothesized, you might feel less embarrassed.
► Read the full note here: Source