Abstract
Negative emotions are feelings of sadness arising out of negative evaluation of oneself by self or others. Embarrassment is characterized as a negative emotion which is experienced as a threat to ones social identity. This chapter discusses the differences between embarrassment and related negative emotions, namely shame, guilt and humiliation and its effects on information processing. Around 45 articles have been reviewed in the process, which were selected based on their relation to either negative emotions in general or specifically to one or more of them. The study uses the interactional (bio-psycho-social) approach to determine the antecedents and consequences of experiencing embarrassment and how it affects information processing. It further explores gender differences in the experience of negative emotions. Given that the existing evidence reveals many contradictory findings in the experience of negative emotions, this chapter conceptualizes certain factors that might influence this experience. It also provides some reasons for variations in experience of embarrassment and related negative emotions, on the basis of gender. This chapter concludes by proposing the complexity of embarrassment as an emotion and a conceptual framework of a continuum on which the experiences of embarrassment may lie and the factors determining the placement of these experiences with their cognitive implications.
