Stranger situations: Examining a self-regulatory model of socially awkward encounters

Abstract

A self-regulatory systems model of socially awkward situations was assessed through a mixed-methods analysis of an ecologically valid simulation. Specific hypotheses were that introducing social novelty and inducing explicit social attention would increase reported feelings of social awkwardness. Participant awkwardness ratings, recorded from continuous measurement devices operated by participants viewing taped simulations, were analysed and results were consistent with hypotheses. Further exploratory analysis revealed that events associated with extreme increases in awkwardness ratings included non- and counter-normative situations and behaviors, negative social judgments, and events that made social processes explicit. Events associated with extreme decreases in awkwardness ratings included social acts that emphasized common, shared or familiar interests, helping behaviors, acts of positive social evaluation, and acts that diffused social awkwardness through humor. These findings were interpreted as offering general support for the model and suggesting its utility in distinguishing dispositional and situational factors involved in alienated social functioning.