SJC’s elevator

Written by Nicolas Guignard

Who among us can claim never to have experienced some degree of embarrassment within an elevator? Of course, mobile phones now make it easier to escape the awkwardness of silence, but claiming they make the embarrassment disappear would be a lie. To understand the sociological mechanics at play here, let us turn to renowned American sociologist Ervin Goffman.

Goffman defines social encounters as “an occasion of face-to-face interaction” which begins and ends as the two (or more) individuals respectively acknowledge the presence of the other(s) and withdraw their participation in said interaction. Each encounter provides individuals with a certain level of pleasure or displeasure.

This displeasure that one might feel, is embarrassment. It arises independently of the topic of the conversation or the relationship between the individuals. It is situational. It “has to do with unfulfilled expectations”, a discrepancy between what one believes should be done and what one actually does. Indeed, individuals expect themselves to adopt a certain behaviour during encounters (make conversation, not make awkward jokes, not fart…), and when they perceive that they have failed they feel embarrassed. The other party will feel embarrassed for the embarrassed individual and both feel that they failed to fulfil expectations. The ritual could not be performed normally, and the highly codified interaction did not meet expectations.

The typical example of an embarrassing situation is the social encounter that occurs within an elevator. Two or more people are trapped together with little distraction for a time which can feel like an eternity. In Saint John’s like in a company, individuals using the lift together most likely know each other by name but may not be on chatting-term just yet. Perhaps small talk will avoid creating too much discomfort, but more often than not the ride will be one long, silent and highly uncomfortable one. From one individual pressing the buttons (who may not know what floor the other lives on but knows he is expected to), to the mumbled ‘bye’, lift rides can be uncomfortable.

After reading Goffman however, one should be able to fully grasp the situation and avoid any further embarrassment, either because the individual will now be more conscious and better behaved, or simply because explaining the sociology of embarrassment will prove a small talk interesting enough to bar embarrassment from that lift ride.