Embarrassment remediation in Japan and the United States

Abstract The effects of culture (of Japan and the United States), type of embarrassment, and status difference between communicators on the use of remedial strategies were examined. A total of 144 U.S. respondents and 201 Japanese respondents participated in this cross-cultural study. The questionnaire presented four scenarios involving an embarrassing situation in an organizational setting and varying in terms of the type of embarrassment (misidentification vs. failing others' expectations) and status of interactants (unequal vs. equal status). A repeated measures MANOVA of the data indicated that culture was the most powerful predictor of the use of remedial strategies in embarrassing situations; the U.S. respondents were more likely to use autonomy-preserving strategies such as justification and humor than the Japanese respondents. Future directions for cross-cultural and intercultural studies on embarrassment are suggested.

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