"What do you think is at the core of this epidemic?
Is it simply the fear of feeling embarrassed or ashamed?"

While not everyone can be pinned down strictly to these reasons, I think what you stated is a good part of the root causes for not admitting our wrongs.

Some people are actual sociopaths or psychopaths... so there's that.
Some are narcissists like you mentioned who can't accept anything that might tarnish their perceived reputation. Donald Trump is a perfect example of that.

I personally have changed my ways in this area in the last five or so years.
Being right no longer means as much to me as it once did.
Maybe it's just my getting older and wiser, maybe it's because in the past I was wrong most of the time anyway.

I like what you stated about someone who can admit their fallibility, it instills a little more trust even if it's something that wasn't a huge deal.

Many people will be genuinely taken aback when someone admits they are or have done wrong because they don't don't see it happen much.
That in itself says a lot.

Yes, it is a human issue. I find it hard to admit I'm wrong. I've blogged about this: [patreon.com]

Lawsuit society, legal entanglements, even #MeToo have made everyone paranoid of admitting fault.

Add in a strong subtext that being wrong is a failure, especially in the workplace, and it's no longer a matter of making an "honest mistake".

Eccentricity is one of the most heinous human traits. Admitting when you are wrong and humility are definitely steps in the right direction!

It's very easy for me to admit that I am wrong. I love talking about myself and if admitting that I am wrong about something affords me the opportunity, I'll take it!

Seriously, I struggle with bipolar disorder and one sure tale tell sign that I'm manic is that my behavior becomes more anti-social. One of the many destructive ways in which this condition manifests is delusions of grandeur which blinds you to your faults, and sometimes makes it impossible to perceive reality in the same manner as those not afflicted with a mental disorder. There is a total lack of awareness that slowly creeps in, and before you know it, people are looking and reacting differently to you and you don't understand why. Before you know it you have become infallible, inflexible and intolerable!

I just can't wait for the next episode.

Maybe it's because there could be a few handfuls of people who could take your place. If I'm wrong at my job, there is a list of people who could do it "better." If I'm wrong in my relationship, there are a ton of dating sites making it easy to meet the next "one". As I saw someone mention, right and wrong shouldn't equate to good and bad, but we make it that way. Until we accept that our faults make us who we are, and that we are still worthy, we will only continue to assert our "rightness".

Since my teens and until my forties I was "never wrong"....One day a friend who knew me from childhood told me why I acted in such stupid way. She said: "You -like most in our generation- were taught how to do everything the right way by being told that you were always wrong." She was correct and until that day I was a person who had great difficulty accepting when I was wrong.

Eccentricity is one of the most heinous human traits. Admitting when you are wr

Your never wrong. You stand Corrected. Thankfully and gracious that someone pointed out your errant. Egotists and Narcissistic Individuals are engulfed in Religion and to this they will always point the guilty finger at you and not the fact that there are like 5000 mistakes in the Bible that they cannot explain. You will only be condemmed guilty by a Religious Fundamentalist or a Court of Law who will not enable you to explain your errant. They do not accept apologies or explainations or any kind. My favorite post on this website has been that if your looking for sympathy you have to look in up in the dictionary. It is between Shit and Syphillius.
Making you their example by aplogizing or explaining is just feeding into their exemplary accomplished example of be a perfect Narcissitic.
I will end on a quote that my Philosphy Professor once said. "He who never washed any dishes, never broke any."

I do not enjoy being right. As a pessimist by nature, being right is not a good thing.

Long in tooth.

I'm only ever wrong when a woman tells me that i am wrong, that must be 100% correct every time since woman are NEVER wrongt.....LOL.