When you cringe while watching people embarrassing/publicly
humiliating themselves, especially when they DON'T deserve it. People who
suffer from this are generally empaths, or they may suffer from severe
social anxiety.
Example:
"I tried to tell my friends that Dave couldn't dance, but they forced him to anyway. I got
second-hand embarrassment in the worst way while watching him. By the time I pulled him out, his face was the deepest shade of red imaginable, and it didn't take a
rocket scientist to figure out that he was trying not to cry from embarrassment. We haven't been on speaking terms with those "friends" since that incident."
Moral of the story: Don't force people to do things they're not comfortable with, especially under protest. It may be funny to you, but you've gotta think of other people.