Can Blushing Make You More Likeable ?

You’ve been caught out saying something stupid and start to feel the heat rise up through your face. Although you can’t see your crimson cheeks, you know everyone else can. An experiment by Dutch Psychologist, Corine Dijk recently confirmed what we all fear – that if we start thinking about it, we blush all the more. But the very fact that blushing is not under our voluntary control is actually what makes it a useful social asset.

Blushing is something of an evolutionary mystery. Charles Darwin was fascinated by it, even writing to doctors he knew to ask them how far down the body their female patients blushed while being examined. There’s no conclusive evidence as to why we blush, but most psychologist n biologist agree that this uniquely human response is all about communication. We don’t begin to blush until about the age of two and a half, as we develop an awareness of the people around us. It reaches a peak during our teens, unfortunately the same time as our friends are most likely to draw attention to it. As we get older we gradually blush a little less.

Red Alert

Although the knowledge that we are blushing is never pleasant, we are usually the last to realize our face is red. In an experiment, where people asked to watch a video of themselves singing (in front of a group, enough to make anyone blush), their face went red before their skin temperature rose. So by the time, you’re aware that you’re blushing, other people have already noticed. The good news is that Dijk has also found that we actually have a preference for people who go red. Dijk showed volunteers a series of photos of women who were either blushing or not, along with a tale of their recent wrongdoing. When asked to speculate on the women’s personalities, people tended to rate the blushing women as more trustworthy and likeable.

Form of Communication

This hints at he evolutionary purpose of blushing. To co-operate with people, you need to know who to trust. If you’ve lost your watch, who would you want to find it? The ideal person is someone who would feel too embarrassed to face you if they kept it. It’s he perfect form of communication because it can’t be faked.

There’s even evidence that suggests we find a bit of redness attractive. In a 2009 study, Ian Stephen from St.Andrews University gave people photos to adjust where he had previously altered the skin tone, so that some were very red, others more bluish. Although people toned down the very red faces, they added far more red to the palest faces.

Of course, for a minority people, blushing is a serious problem. But the next time you feel your face blush, remember that people aren’t likely to hold it against you. In fact, you have just shown them what a nice, sensitive and attractive human being you are. (Psychologies magazine, 2009)