The possible reasons for blushing
Why a response to unwanted social attention results in the physiological response of blushing is still unclear, particularly since blushing tends to draw attention toward the blusher.
How the response may have arisen evolutionary is even more unclear, because it is believed that all groups of people arose from dark-skinned African ancestors, for whom blushing would be hard to see. It is possible that facial vasodilation arose as a physiological response for some other reason and then became associated with certain behaviors or social contexts.
Another possibility is that the genetic trait of beta-adrenergic responsiveness of the facial vein became randomly associated with a genetic predisposition to certain types of social behaviors because of genetic linkage on the chromosome.
Blushing occurs in response to social cues, but it is an innate response. All humans blush, though an individual's propensity toward blushing may vary.
Charles Darwin called blushing "the most peculiar and most human of all expressions." Almost everybody has blushed at one time or another. Blushing occurs most commonly when someone suddenly experiences embarrassment, perhaps because of spilling a drink or leaving a zipper unzipped. On the other hand, blushing may also occur in the absence of an embarrassing event, and some people can feel terribly embarrassed without blushing. For some people, however, blushing has become the central focus of their embarrassment.
How the response may have arisen evolutionary is even more unclear, because it is believed that all groups of people arose from dark-skinned African ancestors, for whom blushing would be hard to see. It is possible that facial vasodilation arose as a physiological response for some other reason and then became associated with certain behaviors or social contexts.
Another possibility is that the genetic trait of beta-adrenergic responsiveness of the facial vein became randomly associated with a genetic predisposition to certain types of social behaviors because of genetic linkage on the chromosome.
Blushing occurs in response to social cues, but it is an innate response. All humans blush, though an individual's propensity toward blushing may vary.
Charles Darwin called blushing "the most peculiar and most human of all expressions." Almost everybody has blushed at one time or another. Blushing occurs most commonly when someone suddenly experiences embarrassment, perhaps because of spilling a drink or leaving a zipper unzipped. On the other hand, blushing may also occur in the absence of an embarrassing event, and some people can feel terribly embarrassed without blushing. For some people, however, blushing has become the central focus of their embarrassment.
