What would be the evolutionary purpose of turning red when embarrassed?

Question

I understand the evolutionary purpose of feeling embarrassed, but why does blood rush to our face (or in my family's case, our ears) when we feel embarrassed? I can't imagine it's to hide since you turn red!

What would it be? Social and biological answers are all welcome.

Answer 1

If I had to choose between a friend (or spouse) who blushed and a friend (or spouse) who never blushed, I might choose the one who blushed. It might indicate that the person is a sensitive (and maybe more honest and trustworthy?) individual.

Then, we'd have blushing babies... :)

Answer 2

There are many, many blood vessels in your face and when you get embarrassed they expand, showing more o the red liquid inside of them.
That also explains why darker skinned people don't turn red (or as much) they're dark skin hides the red underneath.

Answer 3

I don't mean to give a boring answer to a great question, but I would venture that a red face is simply a side effect of the arousal that goes along with embarrassment.

Answer 4

The showing of red may just be a spandrel of the emotion of embarrassment. Not everything has an adaptive significance.

Answer 5

It's actually due to the increased parasympathetic reaction, more commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. In other words, you body is getting ready to either run or fight. It does make sense to run away from embarassing situations... As a kid that is your first instinct.

Answer 6

This is just my thinking, so you can make of it whatever you want to:

Many people blush when they are sexually attracted to someone, and don't want to show it. Perhaps that response was once actually useful, to let someone know he/she had a potentially willing partner. Like I said, just a theory, but all my own ;-)