Schizophrenia and the display of embarrassment

Although the experience of self-conscious emotion is critical for motivating social behavior, no study to date has tested whether this type of emotional responding is disrupted in the context of schizophrenia. In the present study we compared the responses of 27 participants with schizophrenia and 28 controls to a loud acoustic stimulus; a manipulation that has previously been shown to elicit a defensive behavioral response, followed by the self-conscious emotional response of embarrassment. The results indicated that there were no group differences in the magnitude of the defensive response, as indexed by both behavioral and physiological assessment. Further, although the acoustic paradigm was effective in eliciting embarrassment (as evidenced by positive associations between defensive reaction and subsequent self-conscious emotional behavior), no group effects were observed in the magnitude of the embarrassment response. However, since greater embarrassment in the schizophrenia group was associated with better social functioning and lower negative affect, these data are broadly consistent with theoretical models that regard the experience of self-conscious emotion as indicative of greater interpersonal connectedness and enhanced social functioning.