BAN ON BLUSHING.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 38, 24 January 1936, Page 3

BAN ON BLUSHING.

Tests Prove It Can Be Done. GIRL WHO ELIMINATED “COMPLAINT,” Sydney, January 12. ■‘Blushing is purely the result of selfrconsciousness,! and can only be overcome by experience and the achievement of confidence in oneself.” That explanation of a common ‘‘complaint” was given by Dr. A. H, Martin, honorary director of the Australian Institute of Industrial Psychology, yesterday to a girl employed in a city insurance ollice. “I have just been promoted to a new position where 1 am constantly meeting people,” she said. “After I have spoken to them for a few minutes I am completely at ease, but I create a bad impression right at the start by blushing when I first meet them. This is seriously jeopardising my chance of holding the job. What can L do to overcome it?” Test in U.S.A.

Dr. Martin pointed out that blushing is a bodily condition brought about by a mental state. A test was recently conducted in U.S.A. by Professor H. Hepnev, of Syracuse University, he added, to find the greatest psychological problem of 1000 normal people selected from all walks of life. The result showed that self-con-sciousness was at the root of the difiiculties most frequently met with. To the question, “What is your greatest fear?” the reply was, “Criticism by others”; “Your most dillicult tendency ” —“Being too self-con-scious”; “Your worst habit?’ — “Worrying about the opinion of others”; “What do you lack most?” — “Confidence in my own ability.” “In the case of blushing, self-con-trol can only Ire achieved by sell-con-fidence and the acquisition of a correct percpective of one’s own importance.” Dr. Martin said that there were no records to prove that redheads and blondes were more susceptible to a run of blood to the head than were brunettes. \ “The only difference,” lie added, “is that when a fair-skinned person blushes it is instantly apparent, whereas the brunette may blush unseen.” , „.i.