Media

Annalina Mayer, PhD student of the Social Neuroscience Lab, speaks at Deutschlandfunk Nova about why shaming will not stop us from showing particular behaviors. Check out the new podcast (only in German)

Alkoholabhängigkeit –  Was macht das Immunsystem? Trotz der großen gesellschaftlichen Bedeutung sind die Ursachen für die Entstehung der Alkoholabhängigkeit bisher nur unzureichend verstanden. Ein neuer Forschungsansatz untersucht die Rolle des Immunsystems. Entzündungen im Körper können, wie bei der Depression gezeigt, auch bei Alkoholabhängigkeit bestehen und bei einer Untergruppe von Patienten eine neue Therapiemöglichkeit darstellen. Um

Why do we feel vicarious embarrassment? Frieder Paulus explores embarrassment on behalf of others at the University of Lübeck, Germany. He says that the main reason for feeling embarrassed is the violation of rules and conventions. Although the feeling of embarrassment itself is not particularly pleasant, it is generally something positive and constructive for the

In a joint publication with Michigan State University, Goethe-University Frankfurt and Lübeck University, published at Frontiers in Communication – Political Communication, we show that there has been a 45-percent increase in people tweeting about embarrassment since Donald Trump took office. An analysis of Twitter traffic between June 2015 and June 2017 revealed how platform’s users

For anybody who is interested in research on vicarious embarrassment we do recommend to watch this very illustrative and informative Youtube-video. It nicely summarizes the neural mechanisms underlying empathy and how these relate to vicarious emotions such as “Fremdscham”

Frieder Paulus explains how social closeness impacts the experience of vicarious embarrassment and why every kind of embarrassment demands an audience. See latest interview at www.sueddeutsche.de

New York magazine’s “Science of Us” editor explains the compelling psychology of awkwardness, and why learning to accept your cringeworthy moments can be a social advantage. “Have you ever said goodbye to someone, only to discover that you’re both walking in the same direction? Or had your next thought fly out of your brain in the

David Stolz and other members of the SNL have been featured in a national TV show on social behavior. Please find the video and a teaser for the show below (in German). “Warum klatschen wir, wenn alle klatschen? Warum kaufen wir dort, wo alle kaufen? Menschen imitieren das Verhalten der Gruppe, zu der sie sich

We have put together some tricky questions on “vicarious embarrassment” and “fremdscham” at the German ZEIT ONLINE. Please enjoy (in German)! “Wann tritt Fremdscham am ehesten auf? Kann Babys etwas peinlich sein? Und welche Politikerin schämte sich für Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg? Beat the Prof Peinlichkeit!” [to the Quiz]