Embarrassing moments are a common part of all our lives and often turn into funny memories we laugh about. Why do we laugh? Science offers a few answers.
As explained by PsychCentral, “Humor is often used to make an overwhelming situation less threatening.” Jacqueline Wagner, a senior at Pennridge High School, can attest to this. In middle school, Jacqueline had been nauseous before her winter chorus concert but felt that it was just nerves and it would be fine. However, she was proven wrong shortly after lining up on the stage. Just two lines into the first song, “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, and Jacqueline threw up in front of all the students and teachers in the school. She was very embarrassed afterward, only made worse by students making fun of her for the rest of the week. However, instead of letting the embarrassment haunt her, she learned to laugh about it.
That isn’t to say that laughter is always used to avoid feeling embarrassed. Stella Siokos, another senior at Pennridge High School, “Wasn’t even embarrassed,” despite being in a situation that many would consider embarrassing. One summer, Stella was walking with her cousin and sat down on a cobblestone road in Greece. Unbeknownst to her, she had sat in cat poop. She continued walking around the neighborhood with her cousin, and it wasn’t until they got to their distant cousins’ house that she was told about the stain on her pants. Stella started laughing the moment she found out, only laughing more when she remembered all the people they had passed. Her family repeatedly brought it up afterward, and she laughed with them. “It was just funny, so funny,” she said.
Even common embarrassing occurrences cause people to laugh. Based on a survey conducted at Pennridge High School, the most common embarrassing moments students have experienced were waving at someone who doesn’t see you, returning a wave that wasn’t meant for you, attempting to walk around someone you almost ran into but running into them again, and tripping in public. Grayson Kerzmann, another senior at Pennridge High School, recalls tripping in the hall as one of his most embarrassing moments. “My bag was open halfway, and stuff spilled everywhere,” he said. He didn’t laugh immediately after it happened, as he was scrambling to get everything back in his backpack in the middle of the busy hallway. However, he later found the whole thing funny.
As it happens, witnessing an embarrassing moment can also make people laugh, as Stella’s family had. According to The Conversation, it “allows us to externalize our relief at not being in the shoes of that unfortunate person.” In the case of watching someone stumble, they explain that “perplexity in the facial expressing of the victim of clumsiness…creates a context that triggers our laughter.”
Whether it be from the victim or the witness, embarrassing incidents often incite laughter. It is a normal reaction and something that is certainly preferable to the feeling of awkwardness and discomfort. Embarrassing situations don’t have to bring us down. They are a part of us and can serve as funny stories for later.
Research Links:
https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/your-feelings/feelings-emotions/embarrassment/
https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to-overcome-embarrassment#laugh
https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-laugh-when-someone-falls-down-heres-what-science-says-199367
https://bvtack.com/32960/feature/the-most-embarrassing-moments-to-happen-in-life/
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HOw7_nx_CdrwsQWth3JNULPRYeCjgnqyfWKf8Cz2e9I/edit#responses
