There Is An Upside To Awkwardness After All

We can all be pretty awkward. Right? Here we cover the psychology of awkwardness. But it's not all bad news. It’s a good thing that we’re aware of ourselves and care about how others perceive us. Feeling awkward can push us to sharpen our social skills.Show more

Being in an awkward situation is nothing new to each and every individual living on this planet. The pressure of always remaining in the good graces of the crowd weighs down on our shoulders and makes our anxiety levels sky-rocket fairly regularly. But science thinks that not everything is black and white and that somewhere in that gray area this uncomfortableness we’re feeling makes us grow our people skills. Crazy, right?

Apparently, it’s not that crazy. Scientists have this theory that we have two perceptions of ourselves, the first one represents our introspective view and how we see ourselves, while the second one represents how we think the other people see us on the outside. To us, this second one is extremely important because it may affect our social status and interaction. Granted, we may never be too satisfied of ourselves, but we like to play by the unwritten standards of society.

So how do we go about dealing with those mild anxiety attacks we experience each time we misinterpret a greeting? Make sure you check out the whole video to find out! Enjoy!