When gushing leads to blushing: Inflated praise leads socially anxious children to blush

Blushing is an involuntary reddening of the face that typically occurs when people are concerned about making negative impressions on others. Although people typically blush for their mishaps or misdeeds, Darwin observed that some people, and especially children, also blush when they are lavished with praise. We theorize that socially anxious children blush when praised in inflated ways because they believe they do not match the inflated image...