Binging on cringe: It's as addictive as 'eating junk food'

It seems that the sensation of cringe is as addictive as consuming junk food. When someone posts a awkward video, such as a crying selfie, an off-key karaoke performance, or a clumsy proposal at a wedding, we experience cringe. We might cringe not only for the person in the video, but also because we can empathize with them or know others who have experienced similar embarrassment.

This type of embarrassment, known as secondhand or vicarious embarrassment, stems from feeling empathy for others as well as feeling it ourselves. Online, there is a community dedicated to cringe, with compilations and reaction channels that feature people's most cringeworthy moments. Stefan Hofmann, a clinical psychologist from Marburg University in Germany, suggests that cringe videos are as addictive as junk food: as we consume more junk food, we crave even more outrageous content.

Embarrassment is subjective, depending on one's own values and self-perception. For example, a bad grade may embarrass someone who values education, but it may not affect someone who doesn't care about school. Similarly, seeing a stranger misbehave in public may elicit anger, but if it's a child, the observer might feel embarrassment for both the child and themselves, as the behavior reflects on them.

Embarrassment falls under the category of self-conscious emotions, which include shame, pride, and guilt. As self-conscious emotions, embarrassment serves as an emotional barometer, signaling our adherence to social norms and how we are perceived by others. To feel embarrassed, one must have a sense of self, awareness of social norms, and awareness of an audience.

When we witness embarrassing situations, our brains show increased activity in regions associated with failure and arousal. Matthew Feinberg, a social psychologist from the University of Toronto, found that people interpret embarrassment as a sign of prosocial behavior, implying that the person who embarrassed themselves meant no harm and is a good member of society.

This perception can foster trust in the observer who sees the individual's attempt to correct their social mistake. Additionally, observing someone else's embarrassment can trigger a natural response to respond with sympathy. For some, vicarious embarrassment might even be a stronger trust signal than experiencing embarrassment themselves, as it occurs even without personal involvement.

Embarrassment may also be a reflection of our fear of exclusion and negative evaluation from others, which is psychologically and physically painful. To address this fear, some researchers have employed social mishap exposures, where patients intentionally embarrass themselves to challenge the beliefs fueling their fear or anxiety.

However, we cannot simply stop feeling cringe, as it is an involuntary emotion that develops from an early age. As such, associated emotions such as empathy, trust, and schadenfreude (pleasure derived from others' misfortunes) also play a role in our addiction to cringe content. While empathy-focused cringe consumption may make us feel worse over time, the allure of cringe videos online persists.