“On the Nature of Creepiness”, 2016-12-01 (; backlinks; similar):
People perceived as creepy are more likely to be male than female.
Females are more likely than males to perceive sexual threat from a creepy person.
Unpredictability is an important component of creepiness.
Some occupations and hobbies are more strongly linked with creepiness than others.
[previously: 2013 poster] Surprisingly, until now there has never been an empirical study of “creepiness”.
An international sample of 1,341 individuals responded to an online survey.
Males were perceived as being more likely to be creepy than females, and females were more likely to associate sexual threat with creepiness. Unusual nonverbal behavior and characteristics associated with unpredictability were also predictors of creepiness, as were some occupations and hobbies.
The results are consistent with the hypothesis that being “creeped out” is an evolved adaptive emotional response to ambiguity about the presence of threat that enables us to maintain vigilance during times of uncertainty.
3.4. Creepiness of hobbies: …Just for fun, we asked our participants to list 2 hobbies that they thought of as creepy. Easily, the most frequently mentioned creepy hobbies involved collecting things (listed by 341 of our participants). Collecting dolls, insects, reptiles, or body parts such as teeth, bones, or fingernails was considered especially creepy. The second most frequently mentioned creepy hobby (listed by 108 participants) involved some variation of “watching.” Watching, following, or taking pictures of people (especially children) was thought to be creepy by many of our participants, and bird watchers were considered creepy by many as well. A fascination with pornography or exotic sexual activity and taxidermy were also frequently mentioned.
…An examination of Table 2 reveals that the following elements were thought to be very likely to be found in a creepy person: The appearance and nonverbal behavior items in the composite variable (Appearance/NVB), being of the opposite sex (probably due to the predominantly female sample in our study), being extremely thin, not looking the interaction partner in the eye, asking to take a picture of the interaction partner, watching people before interacting with them, asking about details of one’s personal life, having a mental illness, talking about his/her own personal life, displaying too much or too little emotion, being older, and steering the conversation toward sex.
Table 2: One sample t-test results for ratings of probable characteristics of a hypothetical Creepy person interacting with friend of participant.
[Note: All degrees of freedom (df) = 1,340. Ratings are on a “1” (very unlikely that creepy person displayed this characteristic/behavior) to “5” (very likely that creepy person displayed this characteristic/behavior) scale.]Variable/Questionnaire item Mean (SD) t-value p-value Watched friend before interacting 4.55 (0.67) 84.66 0.0001 Touched friend frequently 4.24 (0.92) 49.55 0.0001 Steered conversation toward sex 4.16 (0.96) 43.89 0.0001 Asked to take picture of friend 4.11 (1.03) 39.55 0.0001 Asked for personal details of friend’s family 4.09 (0.94) 42.70 0.0001 Opposite sex of friend 4.01 (1.09) 33.99 0.0001 Greasy Hair 3.90 (0.91) 36.43 0.0001 Appearance/NVB (Composite) 3.87 (0.54) 59.69 0.0001 Never looked friend in the eye 3.74 (1.23) 22.20 0.0001 substantially older than friend 3.72 (1.03) 25.73 0.0001 Showed little emotional expression 3.62 (1.07) 21.46 0.0001 Had mental illness 3.45 (1.06) 15.57 0.0001 Talked a lot about personal life 3.41 (1.15) 13.03 0.0001 Extremely thin 3.18 (0.90) 7.45 0.0001 Displayed a lot of emotion 3.15 (1.12) 5.04 0.0001 Tall 3.08 (0.91) 3.02 0.0003 Dressed too casually for situation 2.89 (1.04) 3.71 0.0001 Had facial hair 2.89 (0.97) 4.29 0.0001 Smiled a lot 2.82 (1.07) 6.26 0.0001 Nodded frequently 2.82 (0.98) 6.61 0.0001 Dressed too formally for situation 2.64 (1.13) 11.73 0.0001 Obese 2.63 (0.93) 14.45 0.0001 Crossed arms 2.61 (0.97) 14.65 0.0001 Wore revealing clothing 2.57 (0.96) 16.65 0.0001 Frequently played with hair 2.57 (0.96) 16.49 0.0001 Muscular 2.41 (0.93) 23.18 0.0001 Same sex as friend 2.25 (0.91) 30.35 0.0001 Fashionably Dressed 1.92 (0.92) 43.19 0.0001 Talked a lot about clothes 1.91 (0.91) 44.13 0.0001 Was a child 1.67 (0.89) 54.53 0.0001 [Keywords: creepiness, nonverbal behavior, emotion, person perception, threat perception, evolutionary psychology]
…While they may not be overtly threatening, individuals who display unusual nonverbal behaviors…odd emotional behavior…or highly distinctive physical characteristics are outside of the norm, and by definition unpredictable. This activates our “creepiness detector” and increases our vigilance as we try to discern if there is in fact something to fear or not from the person in question.
[summary: “They surveyed 1,341 people about what they found creepy and, among their findings, they found that people (1) find it creepy when they can’t predict how someone will behave and (2) are less creeped out if they think they understand a person’s intentions. Both are consistent with the hypothesis that being unsure about a threat is behind the feeling of creepiness…Generally, people who didn’t or maybe couldn’t follow social conventions were thought of as creepy: people who hadn’t washed their hair in a while, stood closer to other people than was normal, dressed oddly or in dirty clothes, or laughed at unpredictable times. Likewise, people who had taboo hobbies or occupations, ones that spoke to a disregard for being normal, were seen as creepy: taxidermists and funeral directors (both of which handle the dead) and adults who collect dolls or dress up like a clown (both of which blur the lines between adulthood and childhood). If people we interact with are willing to break one social rule, or perhaps can’t help themselves, then who’s to say they won’t break a more serious one?”]
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