A TEST OF SHARKEY AND SINGELIS' (1995) MODEL OF SELF-CONSTRUAL AND EMBARRASSABILITY: SITUATIONAL VERSUS DISPOSITIONAL...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• Embarrassment is a complex social emotion influenced by self-perception and social evaluation.
• Previous research by Sharkey and Singelis (1995) explored situational embarrassment, linking it to self-construal and social anxiety.
• The applicability of existing models to dispositional embarrassment requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To re-evaluate the model of embarrassment proposed by Sharkey and Singelis (1995) in the context of dispositional embarrassability.
• To examine the predictive power of social anxiety, independent self-construal, and interdependent self-construal on dispositional embarrassability.
• To compare the explanatory power of the model for situational versus dispositional embarrassment.

Main Methods:

• The study replicated Sharkey and Singelis' (1995) analysis using a larger and more diverse sample of first-year psychology students.
• Embarrassability was measured as a disposition, unlike the situational focus of the original study.
• Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the variance explained by social anxiety and self-construal constructs.

Main Results:

• The combined constructs of social anxiety, independent self-construal, and interdependent self-construal explained approximately 47% of the variance in dispositional embarrassability.
• Social anxiety emerged as a significant predictor, explaining 25% of the variance in dispositional embarrassability after controlling for self-construal variables.
• The original model's explanatory power for situational embarrassment may differ from its applicability to dispositional embarrassment.

Conclusions:

• The model of embarrassment, particularly the role of social anxiety and self-construal, demonstrates significant explanatory power for dispositional embarrassability.
• Findings suggest that dispositional embarrassability is influenced by a combination of individual social anxiety levels and self-construal orientations.
• Further research is warranted to fully understand the nuances of situational versus dispositional embarrassment and their underlying psychological mechanisms.