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The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals

C >> Charles Darwin >> The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals




Shyness, as the derivation of the word indicates in several
languages,[27] is closely related to fear; yet it is distinct
from fear in the ordinary sense. A shy man no doubt dreads
the notice of strangers, but can hardly be said to be afraid
of them, he may be as bold as a hero in battle, and yet have no
self-confidence about trifles in the presence of strangers.
Almost every one is extremely nervous when first addressing
a public assembly, and most men remain so throughout their lives;
but this appears to depend on the consciousness of a great
coming exertion, with its associated effects on the system,
rather than on shyness;[28] although a timid or shy man no
doubt suffers on such occasions infinitely more than another.
With very young children it is difficult to distinguish
between fear and shyness; but this latter feeling with them has
often seemed to me to partake of the character of the wildness
of an untamed animal. Shyness comes on at a very early age.
In one of my own children, when two years and three months old,
I saw a trace of what certainly appeared to be shyness,
directed towards myself after an absence from home of only a week.
This was shown not by a blush, but by the eyes being for a few
minutes slightly averted from me. I have noticed on other
occasions that shyness or shamefacedness and real shame are
exhibited in the eyes of young children before they have acquired
the power of blushing.


[27] H. Wedgwood, Dict. English Etymology, vol. iii. 1865, p. 184.
So with the Latin word _verecundus_.

As shyness apparently depends on self-attention, we can perceive
how right are those who maintain that reprehending children
for shyness, instead of doing them any good, does much harm,
as it calls their attention still more closely to themselves.
It has been well urged that "nothing hurts young people more than
to be watched continually about their feelings, to have their
countenances scrutinized, and the degrees of their sensibility
measured by the surveying eye of the unmerciful spectator.
Under the constraint of such examinations they can think
of nothing but that they are looked at, and feel nothing
but shame or apprehension."[29]


[28] Mr. Bain (`The Emotions and the Will,' p. 64) has discussed
the "abashed" feelings experienced on these occasions,
as well as the _stage-fright_ of actors unused to the stage.
Mr. Bain apparently attributes these feelings to simple
apprehension or dread.

[29] `Essays on Practical Education,' by Maria and R. L. Edgeworth,
new edit. vol. ii. 1822, p. 38. Dr. Burgess (ibid. p.
187) insists strongly to the same effect.

_Moral causes: guilt_.--With respect to blushing from strictly
moral causes, we meet with the same fundamental principle
as before, namely, regard for the opinion of others.
It is not the conscience which raises a blush, for a man may sincerely
regret some slight fault committed in solitude, or he may suffer
the deepest remorse for an undetected crime, but he will not blush.
"I blush," says Dr. Burgess,[30] "in the presence of my accusers."
It is not the sense of guilt, but the thought that others think
or know us to be guilty which crimsons the face. A man may feel
thoroughly ashamed at having told a small falsehood, without blushing;
but if he even suspects that he is detected he will instantly blush,
especially if detected by one whom he reveres.

On the other hand, a man may be convinced that God witnesses all his actions,
and he may feel deeply conscious of some fault and pray for forgiveness;
but this will not, as a lady who is a great blusher believes, ever excite
a blush. The explanation of this difference between the knowledge
by God and man of our actions lies, I presume, in man's disapprobation
of immoral conduct being somewhat akin in nature to his depreciation of our
personal appearance, so that through association both lead to similar results;
whereas the disapprobation of God brings up no such association.

Many a person has blushed intensely when accused of some crime,
though completely innocent of it. Even the thought, as the lady before
referred to has observed to me, that others think that we have made
an unkind or stupid remark, is amply sufficient to cause a blush,
although we know all the time that we have been completely misunderstood.
An action may be meritorious or of an indifferent nature, but a sensitive
person, if he suspects that others take a different view of it, will blush.
For instance, a lady by herself may give money to a beggar without a trace
of a blush, but if others are present, and she doubts whether they approve,
or suspects that they think her influenced by display, she will blush.
So it will be, if she offers to relieve the distress of a decayed gentlewoman,
more particularly of one whom she had previously known under better
circumstances, as she cannot then feel sure how her conduct will be viewed.
But such cases as these blend into shyness.


[29{sic, should be 30}] `Essays on Practical Education,'
by Maria and R. L. Edgeworth, new edit. vol. ii. 1822, p. 50.


_Breaches of etiquette_.--The rules of _etiquette_ always refer
to conduct in the presence of, or towards others. They have no
necessary connection with the moral sense, and are often meaningless.
Nevertheless as they depend on the fixed custom of our equals
and superiors, whose opinion we highly regard, they are considered
almost as binding as are the laws of honour to a gentleman.
Consequently the breach of the laws of etiquette, that is, any impoliteness
or _gaucherie_, any impropriety, or an inappropriate remark,
though quite accidental, will cause the most intense blushing
of which a man is capable. Even the recollection of such an act,
after an interval of many years, will make the whole body to tingle.
So strong, also, is the power of sympathy that a sensitive person,
as a lady has assured me, will sometimes blush at a flagrant breach
of etiquette by a perfect stranger, though the act may in no
way concern her.


_Modesty_.--This is another powerful agent in exciting blushes;
but the word modesty includes very different states of the mind.
It implies humility, and we often judge of this by persons being
greatly pleased and blushing at slight praise, or by being
annoyed at praise which seems to them too high according
to their own humble standard of themselves. Blushing here has
the usual signification of regard for the opinion of others.
But modesty frequently relates to acts of indelicacy;
and indelicacy is an affair of etiquette, as we clearly
see with the nations that go altogether or nearly naked.
He who is modest, and blushes easily at acts of this nature,
does so because they are breaches of a firmly and wisely
established etiquette. This is indeed shown by the derivation of
the word _modest_ from _modus_, a measure or standard of behaviour.
A blush due to this form of modesty is, moreover, apt to be intense,
because it generally relates to the opposite sex; and we have
seen how in all cases our liability to blush is thus increased.
We apply the term `modest,' as it would appear, to those
who have an humble opinion of themselves, and to those who
are extremely sensitive about an indelicate word or deed,
simply because in both cases blushes are readily excited,
for these two frames of mind have nothing else in common.
Shyness also, from this same cause, is often mistaken for modesty
in the sense of humility.

Some persons flush up, as I have observed and have been assured,
at any sudden and disagreeable recollection. The commonest
cause seems to be the sudden remembrance of not having done
something for another person which had been promised.
In this case it may be that the thought passes half
unconsciously through the mind, "What will he think of me?"
and then the flush would partake of the nature of a true blush.
But whether such flushes are in most cases due to the capillary
circulation being affected, is very doubtful; for we must remember
that almost every strong emotion, such as anger or great joy,
acts on the heart, and causes the face to redden.

The fact that blushes may be excited in absolute solitude seems
opposed to the view here taken, namely that the habit originally
arose from thinking about what others think of us. Several ladies,
who are great blushers, are unanimous in regard to solitude;
and some of them believe that they have blushed in the dark.
From what Mr. Forbes has stated with respect to the Aymaras,
and from my own sensations, I have no doubt that this latter statement
is correct. Shakspeare, therefore, erred when he made Juliet,
who was not even by herself, say to Romeo (act ii. sc. 2):--

Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face;
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek,
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night."

But when a blush is excited in solitude, the cause almost
always relates to the thoughts of others about us--to acts done
in their presence, or suspected by them; or again when we reflect
what others would have thought of us had they known of the act.
Nevertheless one or two of my informants believe that they
have blushed from shame at acts in no way relating to others.
If this be so, we must attribute the result to the force
of inveterate habit and association, under a state of mind
closely analogous to that which ordinarily excites a blush;
nor need we feel surprise at this, as even sympathy with another
person who commits a flagrant breach of etiquette is believed,
as we have just seen, sometimes to cause a blush.

Finally, then, I conclude that blushing,--whether due to shyness--
to shame for a real crime--to shame from a breach of the laws
of etiquette--to modesty from humility--to modesty from
an indelicacy--depends in all cases on the same principle;
this principle being a sensitive regard for the opinion,
more particularly for the depreciation of others, primarily in
relation to our personal appearance, especially of our faces;
and secondarily, through the force of association and habit,
in relation to the opinion of others on our conduct.


_Theory of Blushing_.--We have now to consider, why should the thought
that others are thinking about us affect our capillary circulation?
Sir C. Bell insists[31] that blushing "is a provision for expression,
as may be inferred from the colour extending only to the surface of
the face, neck, and breast, the parts most exposed. It is not acquired;
it is from the beginning." Dr. Burgess believes that it was designed by
the Creator in "order that the soul might have sovereign power of displaying
in the cheeks the various internal emotions of the moral feelings;"
so as to serve as a check on ourselves, and as a sign to others,
that we were violating rules which ought to be held sacred.
Gratiolet merely remarks,--"Or, comme il est dans l'ordre de la nature
que l'etre social le plus intelligent soit aussi le plus intelligible,
cette faculte de rougeur et de paleur qui distingue l'homme, est un
signe naturel de sa haute perfection."

The belief that blushing was SPECIALLY designed by the Creator is opposed
to the general theory of evolution, which is now so largely accepted;
but it forms no part of my duty here to argue on the general question.
Those who believe in design, will find it difficult to account for shyness
being the most frequent and efficient of all the causes of blushing,
as it makes the blusher to suffer and the beholder uncomfortable,
without being of the least service to either of them. They will also find
it difficult to account for negroes and other dark-coloured races blushing,
in whom a change of colour in the skin is scarcely or not at all visible.


[31] Bell, `Anatomy of Expression,' p. 95. Burgess, as quoted
below, ibid. p. 49. Gratiolet, De la Phys. p. 94.

No doubt a slight blush adds to the beauty of a maiden's face;
and the Circassian women who are capable of blushing, invariably fetch
a higher price in the seraolio of the Sultan than less susceptible
women.[32] But the firmest believer in the efficacy of sexual selection
will hardly suppose that blushing was acquired as a sexual ornament.
This view would also be opposed to what has. just been said about
the dark-coloured races blushing in an invisible manner.

The hypothesis which appears to me the most probable, though it
may at first seem rash, is that attention closely directed
to any part of the body tends to interfere with the ordinary
and tonic contraction of the small arteries of that part.
These vessels, in consequence, become at such times more or
less relaxed, and are instantly filled with arterial blood.
This tendency will have been much strengthened, if frequent
attention has been paid during many generations to the same part,
owing to nerve-force readily flowing along accustomed channels,
and by the power of inheritance. Whenever we believe that others
are depreciating or even considering our personal appearance,
our attention is vividly directed to the outer and visible
parts of our bodies; and of all such parts we are most
sensitive about our faces, as no doubt has been the case during
many past generations. Therefore, assuming for the moment
that the capillary vessels can be acted on by close attention,
those of the face will have become eminently susceptible.
Through the force of association, the same effects will tend
to follow whenever we think that others are considering
or censuring our actions or character.

As the basis of this theory rests on mental attention
having some power to influence the capillary circulation,
it will be necessary to give a considerable body of details,
bearing more or less directly on this subject.
Several observers,[33] who from their wide experience and
knowledge are eminently capable of forming a sound judgment,
are convinced that attention or consciousness (which latter term
Sir H. Holland thinks the more explicit) concentrated on almost
any part of the body produces some direct physical effect on it.
This applies to the movements of the involuntary muscles,
and of the voluntary muscles when acting involuntarily,--
to the secretion of the glands,--to the activity of the senses
and sensations,--and even to the nutrition of parts.


[32] On the authority of Lady Mary Wortley Montague;
see Burgess, ibid. p. 43.

It is known that the involuntary movements of the heart are
affected if close attention be paid to them. Gratiolet[34] gives
the case of a man, who by continually watching and counting his
own pulse, at last caused one beat out of every six to intermit.
On the other hand, my father told me of a careful observer,
who certainly had heart-disease and died from it, and who
positively stated that his pulse was habitually irregular
to an extreme degree; yet to his great disappointment it
invariably became regular as soon as my father entered the room.
Sir H. Holland remarks,[35] that "the effect upon the circulation
of a part from the consciousness suddenly directed and fixed
upon it, is often obvious and immediate." Professor Laycock,
who has particularly attended to phenomena of this nature,[36]
insists that "when the attention is directed to any portion
of the body, innervation and circulation are excited locally,
and the functional activity of that portion developed."


[33] In England, Sir H. Holland was, I believe, the first to consider
the influence of mental attention on various parts of the body, in his
`Medical Notes and Reflections,' 1839 p. 64. This essay, much enlarged,
was reprinted by Sir H. Holland in his `Chapters on Mental Physiology,'
1858, p. 79, from which work I always quote. At nearly the same time,
as well as subsequently, Prof. Laycock discussed the same subject:
see `Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,' 1839, July, pp. 17-22. Also
his `Treatise on the Nervous Diseases of Women,' 1840, p. 110; and `Mind
and Brain,' vol. ii. 1860, p. 327. Dr. Carpenter's views on mesmerism
have a nearly similar bearing. The great physiologist Muller treated
(`Elements of Physiology,' Eng. translat. vol. ii. pp. 937, 1085)
of the influence of the attention on the senses. Sir J. Paget discusses
the influence of the mind on the nutrition of parts, in his `Lectures on
Surgical Pathology,' 1853, vol. i. p. 39: 1 quote from the 3rd edit.
revised by Prof. Turner, 1870, p. 28. See, also, Gratiolet, De
la Phys. pp. 283-287.

[34] De la Phys. p. 283.

It is generally believed that the peristaltic movements
of the intestines are influenced by attention being paid
to them at fixed recurrent periods; and these movements depend
on the contraction of unstriped and involuntary muscles.
The abnormal action of the voluntary muscles in epilepsy, chorea,
and hysteria is known to be influenced by the expectation of an attack,
and by the sight of other patients similarly affected.[37] So
it is with the involuntary acts of yawning and laughing.

Certain glands are much influenced by thinking of them, or of
the conditions under which they have been habitually excited.
This is familiar to every one in the increased flow of saliva,
when the thought, for instance, of intensely acid fruit is
kept before the mind." It was shown in our sixth chapter,
that an earnest and long-continued desire either to repress,
or to increase, the action of the lacrymal glands is effectual.
Some curious cases have been recorded in the case of women,
of the power of the mind on the mammary glands; and still more
remarkable ones in relation to the uterine functions.[39]


[35] `Chapters on Mental Physiology,' 1858, p. 111. [36] `Mind
find Brain,' vol. ii. 1860, p. 327. [37] `Chapters
on Mental Physiology,' pp. 104-106. [38] See Gratiolet on
this subject, De la Phys. p. 287. [39] Dr. J. Crichton Browne,
from his observations on the insane, is convinced that attention
directed for a prolonged period on any part or organ may
ultimately influence its capillary circulation and nutrition.
He has given me some extraordinary cases; one of these,
which cannot here be related in full, refers to a married
woman fifty years of age, who laboured under the firm
and long-continued delusion that she was pregnant.
When the expected period arrived, she acted precisely as if she
had been really delivered of a child, and seemed to suffer
extreme pain, so that the perspiration broke out on her forehead.
The result was that a state of things returned, continuing for
three days, which had ceased during the six previous years.
Mr. Braid gives, in his `Magic, Hypnotism,' &c., 1852, p.
95, and in his other works analogous cases, as well as other facts
showing the great influence of the will on the mammary glands,
even on one breast alone.

When we direct our whole attention to any one sense, its acuteness
is increased;[40] and the continued habit of close attention,
as with blind people to that of hearing, and with the blind and deaf
to that of touch, appears to improve the sense in question permanently.
There is, also, some reason to believe, judging from the capacities
of different races of man, that the effects are inherited.
Turning to ordinary sensations, it is well known that pain is increased
by attending to it; and Sir B. Brodie goes so far as to believe
that pain may be felt in any part of the body to which attention
is closely drawn.[41] Sir H. Holland also remarks that we become
not only conscious of the existence of a part subjected to
concentrated attention, but we experience in it various odd sensations.
as of weight, heat, cold, tingling, or itching.[42]

Lastly, some physiologists maintain that the mind can influence
the nutrition of parts. Sir J. Paget has given a curious instance
of the power, not indeed of the mind, but of the nervous system,
on the hair. A lady "who is subject to attacks of what is called
nervous headache, always finds in the morning after such an one,
that some patches of her hair are white, as if powdered with starch.
The change is effected in a night, and in a few days after,
the hairs gradually regain their dark brownish colour.[43]


[40] Dr. Maudsley has given (`The Physiology and Pathology of Mind,'
2nd edit. 1868, p. 105), on good authority, some curious statements with
respect to the improvement of the sense of touch by practice and attention.
It is remarkable that when this sense has thus been rendered more acute
at any point of the body, for instance, in a finger, it is likewise improved
at the corresponding point on the opposite side of the body.

[41] The Lancet,' 1838, pp. 39-40, as quoted by
Prof. Laycock, `Nervous Diseases of Women,' 1840, p. 110.

[42] `Chapters on Mental Physiology,' 1858, pp. 91-93.

We thus see that close attention certainly affects various parts
and organs, which are not properly under the control of the will.
By what means attention--perhaps the most wonderful of all the wondrous
powers of the mind--is effected, is an extremely obscure subject.
According to Muller,[44] the process by which the sensory cells of the brain
are rendered, through the will, susceptible of receiving more intense
and distinct impressions, is closely analogous to that by which the motor
cells are excited to send nerve-force to the voluntary muscles.
There are many points of analogy in the action of the sensory
and motor nerve-cells; for instance, the familiar fact that close
attention to any one sense causes fatigue, like the prolonged exertion
of any one muscle.[45] When therefore we voluntarily concentrate
our attention on any part of the body, the cells of the brain
which receive impressions or sensations from that part are,
it is probable, in some unknown manner stimulated into activity.
This may account, without any local change in the part to which our
attention is earnestly directed, for pain or odd sensations being
there felt or increased.


[43] `Lectures on Surgical Pathology,' 3rd edit.
revised by Prof. Turner, 1870, pp. 28, 31.

[44] `Elements of Physiology,' Eng. translat. vol. ii. p. 938.

[45] Prof. Laycock has discussed this point in a very interesting manner.
See his `Nervous Diseases of Women,' 1840, p. 110.

If, however, the part is furnished with muscles, we cannot
feel sure, as Mr. Michael Foster has remarked to me, that some
slight impulse may not be unconsciously sent to such muscles;
and this would probably cause an obscure sensation in the part.

In a large number of cases, as with the salivary and lacrymal glands,
intestinal canal, &c., the power of attention seems to rest,
either chiefly, or as some physiologists think, exclusively, on the
vaso-motor system being affected in such a manner that more blood
is allowed to flow into the capillaries of the part in question.
This increased action of the capillaries may in some cases be combined
with the simultaneously increased activity of the sensorium.

The manner in which the mind affects the vasomotor system may be
conceived in the following manner. When we actually taste sour fruit,
an impression is sent through the gustatory nerves to a certain part
of the sensorium; this transmits nerve-force to the vasomotor centre,
which consequently allows the muscular coats of the small arteries
that permeate the salivary glands to relax. Hence more blood flows
into these glands, and they secrete a copious supply of saliva.
Now it does not seem an improbable assumption, that, when we
reflect intently on a sensation, the same part of the sensorium,
or a closely connected part of it, is brought into a state of activity,
in the same manner as when we actually perceive the sensation.
If so, the same cells in the brain will be excited, though, perhaps,
in a less degree, by vividly thinking about a sour taste, as by
perceiving it; and they will transmit in the one case, as in the other,
nerve-force to the vaso-motor centre with the same results.

To give another, and, in some respects, more appropriate illustration.
If a man stands before a hot fire, his face reddens. This appears
to be due, as Mr. Michael Foster informs me, in part to the local
action of the heat, and in part to a reflex action from the vaso-motor
centres.[46] In this latter case, the heat affects the nerves of the face;
these transmit an impression to the sensory cells of the brain,
which act on the vaso-motor centre, and this reacts on the small arteries
of the face, relaxing them and allowing them to become filled with blood.
Here, again, it seems not improbable that if we were repeatedly to
concentrate with great earnestness our attention on the recollection
of our heated faces, the same part of the sensorium which gives us
the consciousness of actual heat would be in some slight degree stimulated,
and would in consequence tend to transmit some nerve-force to
the vaso-motor centres, so as to relax the capillaries of the face.
Now as men during endless generations have had their attention often
and earnestly directed to their personal appearance, and especially
to their faces, any incipient tendency in the facial capillaries to be
thus affected will have become in the course of time greatly strengthened
through the principles just referred to, namely, nerve-force passing
readily along accustomed channels, and inherited habit. Thus, as it
appears to me, a plausible explanation is afforded of the leading
phenomena connected with the act of blushing.

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