WEBVTT - Why Do We Blush When We're Embarrassed?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to BrainStuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey BrainStuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here. Maybe you've just said something that didn't quite

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<v Speaker 1>come out right to someone you were trying to impress.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you tripped in the middle of a busy sidewalk.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you've been called on unexpectedly in a meeting or classroom.

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<v Speaker 1>You feel a sudden jolt as your heart rate increases

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<v Speaker 1>and your cheeks begin to warm. You, friend, are embarrassed,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're blushing because of it. We humans experience involuntary

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<v Speaker 1>reactions to lots of emotional stimuli. You might sweat before

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<v Speaker 1>you give a presentation, or jump or scream if startled.

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<v Speaker 1>Blushing from embarrassment is governed by the same system that

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<v Speaker 1>activates your fight-or-flight response, the sympathetic nervous system. This system

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<v Speaker 1>is involuntary, meaning you don't actually have to think or

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<v Speaker 1>even intend to carry out these processes. When you feel embarrassed,

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<v Speaker 1>your body releases adrenaline. This hormone acts as a natural stimulant,

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<v Speaker 1>speeding up your breathing and heart rate to prepare you

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<v Speaker 1>to react to danger. Your pupils grow bigger, allowing you

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<v Speaker 1>to take in as much visual information as possible, while

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<v Speaker 1>your digestive process slows to redirect blood flow to your muscles.

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<v Speaker 1>All of these effects account for that jolt you encounter

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<v Speaker 1>when you feel embarrassment, the sort of rush you feel,

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<v Speaker 1>the sudden sense of focus, and drop or butterflies in

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<v Speaker 1>your stomach. Adrenaline also causes your blood vessels to dilate

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<v Speaker 1>in order to improve blood flow and oxygen delivery. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the case with blushing. The veins in your face,

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes your ears, neck, and upper chest, respond to

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<v Speaker 1>a chemical signal that tells the veins to allow the

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<v Speaker 1>adrenaline to do its magic. As a result, those veins dilate,

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<v Speaker 1>allowing more blood to flow through them than usual. This

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<v Speaker 1>reddened or darkened appearance is how the body responds to

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<v Speaker 1>an embarrassing situation. Anything from receiving public criticism or praise,

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<v Speaker 1>to watching a video of yourself, to spilling coffee on

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<v Speaker 1>your crush. This fight-or-flight response sounds reasonable enough in general.

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<v Speaker 1>We've all wished we could turn and walk out of

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<v Speaker 1>the room and into the sea from embarrassment at some point.

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<v Speaker 1>but it's an unusual response from your veins. Other types

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<v Speaker 1>of blood vessels are responsive to adrenaline, but veins generally aren't.

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<v Speaker 1>In other regions of your body, veins don't do much

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<v Speaker 1>when adrenaline is released. The hormone has little or no

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<v Speaker 1>effect on them. Blushing from embarrassment is a unique phenomenon.

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<v Speaker 1>There are other means by which our cheeks become flushed,

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<v Speaker 1>like drinking alcohol or eating a spicy dish, but only

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<v Speaker 1>being embarrassed causes the type of blushing that's triggered by adrenaline.

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<v Speaker 1>There has been some research into what's going on in

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<v Speaker 1>our brains when we blush. Back in 2024, a group

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<v Speaker 1>of researchers out of the Netherlands published a paper about

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<v Speaker 1>an albeit small study in which they a. measured blushing

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<v Speaker 1>via cheek temperature and b. observed participants' brains with an MRI,

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<v Speaker 1>while each participant watched a video of themselves singing karaoke.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers found that the parts of the brain that

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<v Speaker 1>activated during blushing indicated heightened visual attention and heightened emotional arousal.

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that the blushing participants were paying closer attention to

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<v Speaker 1>how they looked, and they felt sort of fraught about it,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that blushing may be an adrenal response to feeling

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<v Speaker 1>exposed and vulnerable, just socially instead of physically. What the

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<v Speaker 1>researchers didn't observe in blushers was increased activity in the

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<v Speaker 1>parts of the brain that handled deeper reflections. The participants

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<v Speaker 1>were not considering how their actions might be received and

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<v Speaker 1>then blushing. It was a more immediate reaction to being

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<v Speaker 1>perceived at all. But okay, what possible purpose could there

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<v Speaker 1>be for more blood to flow through your cheeks when

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<v Speaker 1>you feel embarrassed like this? Where did blushing come from evolutionarily?

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<v Speaker 1>This is the sort of question that science has a

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<v Speaker 1>hard time answering definitively, but researchers are working on it,

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<v Speaker 1>and we have a good hypothesis. blushing has been determined

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<v Speaker 1>to be universal among, as well as exclusive to, humans. So,

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<v Speaker 1>it seems that we specifically developed a specific process that

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<v Speaker 1>physically displays our embarrassment. The leading hypothesis goes that blushing

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<v Speaker 1>evolved as a means of enforcing the social codes by

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<v Speaker 1>which we humans must adhere in order for society to

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<v Speaker 1>function in a smooth and friendly manner. By blushing when

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<v Speaker 1>we're embarrassed, we're showing others that we recognize that we've

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<v Speaker 1>just made a social misstep and that we feel real

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<v Speaker 1>weird about it, which hopefully means that we'll try to

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<v Speaker 1>avoid similar missteps in the future. Others who see us

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<v Speaker 1>blushing after an awkward moment understand from experience that the

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<v Speaker 1>feelings associated with it are unpleasant. In this regard, blushing

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<v Speaker 1>may serve as a nonverbal, physical apology for our mistake.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people get even more embarrassed after blushing over an

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<v Speaker 1>embarrassing situation. This hypothesis would indicate that the blusher is

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<v Speaker 1>actually socially skilled and empathetic, that they don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>cause unintentional social or emotional harm. This empathy and social

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<v Speaker 1>aptitude seems to develop in humans at an early age,

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<v Speaker 1>around the time we begin to engage in social situations

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<v Speaker 1>with people outside of our household and inner family group.

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<v Speaker 1>By studying the development of this aptitude, psychologists found that

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<v Speaker 1>blushing from embarrassment develops alongside our consciousness of others. This

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<v Speaker 1>suggests that blushing has a purely social basis. Evolutionarily, blushing

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<v Speaker 1>may have developed as a means for displaying regret over

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<v Speaker 1>an insult to someone else, and thus to de-escalate the

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<v Speaker 1>situation and prevent possible confrontation or violence. Other animals have

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<v Speaker 1>developed ways of displaying calming signs to diffuse a tense

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<v Speaker 1>moment too. Think about your dog rolling over and showing

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<v Speaker 1>you their belly after being caught digging in the yard.

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<v Speaker 1>Exposing their belly indicates that the dog is not in

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<v Speaker 1>any way challenging you're upset at the situation. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>demonstration that they understand that you're mad and want to

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<v Speaker 1>smooth things over. And we humans do find it pretty

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<v Speaker 1>difficult to continue being upset with a dog once they've

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<v Speaker 1>rolled over and maybe given us some big eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>a hopeful little tail wag. Of course, such signals can't

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<v Speaker 1>be the same in every type of animal. If a

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<v Speaker 1>cat rolls over and shows you its belly, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>it's more likely to be a sign of relaxation and trust,

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<v Speaker 1>and or a threat that they'll hind kick you into

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<v Speaker 1>next Sunday if you try anything. If a cat wants

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<v Speaker 1>to de-escalate, they might slow blink at you to demonstrate

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<v Speaker 1>a low threat level, or headbutt you or vocalize as

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<v Speaker 1>a sign of your familial bond. After all, we wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>be able to tell if either a dog or a

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<v Speaker 1>cat were blushing. But in humans, with our skin-forward faces

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<v Speaker 1>a focal point of expression, blushing seems to be what

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<v Speaker 1>we landed on to make a bad situation better. If

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<v Speaker 1>you hate it when you blush, unfortunately, there's not a

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<v Speaker 1>lot you can do to avoid it entirely. It is

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<v Speaker 1>an involuntary process. It does seem to come at precisely

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<v Speaker 1>the worst moment. You're already wishing you could melt away,

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<v Speaker 1>and suddenly your face is doing this weird thing that

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<v Speaker 1>could only possibly draw more attention to you. It may

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<v Speaker 1>be comforting to consider that the situation usually feels worse

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<v Speaker 1>than it is. Everyone understands that mistakes and self-consciousness happen.

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<v Speaker 1>As a performer, one of the most useful things I

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<v Speaker 1>was ever told is that your audience is rooting for

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<v Speaker 1>you to succeed. People generally want other people to have

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<v Speaker 1>a nice time. In the moment, you can try exercises

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<v Speaker 1>like reframing, that is, consciously shifting your thought process from

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<v Speaker 1>something like, wow, this is mortifying, to something more like,

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<v Speaker 1>this is going to be a hilarious story later. And

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<v Speaker 1>box breathing, for example, can help calm your nervous system.

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<v Speaker 1>Box breathing is a type of intentional breath exercise where

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<v Speaker 1>you do equal counts of, say, five seconds each, on

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<v Speaker 1>an inhale, a hold, an exhale, and a hold. This

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<v Speaker 1>can help you sort of reset your system back to normal.

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<v Speaker 1>If you find yourself experiencing a lot of embarrassment and

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<v Speaker 1>anxiety about it, or a lot of social anxiety in general,

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<v Speaker 1>talk to a healthcare provider about it. I know that

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<v Speaker 1>social anxiety makes it hard to talk to people about

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<v Speaker 1>social anxiety, but suffering is also hard. There are lots

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<v Speaker 1>of options for talk therapy and or medication that can

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<v Speaker 1>make life easier and really open up your world. And

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<v Speaker 1>there's nothing wrong with getting help. Regardless of what proves

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<v Speaker 1>to be the ultimate explanation for why we blush, humans

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<v Speaker 1>have developed an aptitude for forgiveness alongside our physical response

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<v Speaker 1>to embarrassment. Small studies have shown that people trust blushers

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<v Speaker 1>more than non-blushers after both have made a faux pas.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you've accidentally insulted someone, a direct apology will

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<v Speaker 1>probably make both of you feel better. The next time

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<v Speaker 1>you experience an awkward situation of your own making and

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<v Speaker 1>feel your blood rushing, just remember, this too shall pass.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article, Why Do People Blush?

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<v Speaker 1>on HowStuffWorks.com, written by Josh Clark. BrainStuff is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeart Podcasts in partnership with HowStuffWorks.com and is produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Klang. For more shows from iHeart Podcasts, visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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