Karaoke Experiment Explains Science of Embarrassment
Would you be embarrassed to watch a video of yourself singing karaoke?
Researchers in the Netherlands and Italy thought people might be — so they used videos of people singing karaoke to study blushing.
Scientists don't really understand why we blush. Some think it happens when we think about how other people might see us in an embarrassing situation. Others think it just happens automatically when we feel "socially exposed" — whether we're thinking of others or not.
To investigate which idea is correct, researchers asked 40 women aged 16 to 20 in the Netherlands to sing karaoke.
Participants weren't told they would be singing until they arrived at the lab, and they had to sing songs chosen for their difficulty — songs like "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey, and "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen.
They then watched videos of themselves singing — as well as videos of other participants, including a professional singer they were told was just a normal participant.
Participants' brains were scanned while they watched, and their cheek temperatures were checked for blushing.
It was found that people blushed more when watching themselves sing — although some even blushed when watching others, something called "empathetic blushing." Cheek temperatures actually decreased when watching the professional singer.
The researchers found that participants who blushed more showed more activity in a part of the brain that has been connected with processing emotions. However, no activity was seen in the parts of the brain used when thinking about others in relation to oneself.
The researchers said this shows that blushing isn't caused by thinking about how others see us, but is an unthinking response to feeling socially exposed.
"Blushing can come simply from being exposed," the study's first author, Milica Nikolic, told The Guardian — adding that, when it happens, people probably aren't thinking about things like how they look.
"I think it's more automatic," she said.
