E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSIn the movie “No Country for Old Men,” Anton Chigurh immediately makes people feel uncomfortable with his strange mannerisms and gait along with his awkward gaze. Even without knowing he is a killer, it's clear Chigurh is a creep.
People feel uncomfortable -- to the point of experiencing chills -- when they’re around creepy people, a new study confirms. Researchers believe an inability to correctly mimic nonverbal cues, such as hand gestures and eye contact, makes someone creepy.
Mimicry occurs when one person copies the body language of another, explains Pontus Leander, co-author of the study and associate professor of psychology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Humans mimic all the time, starting in infancy. Children learn by observing adults and doing what they do -- think of peek-a-boo. As we age, most adults unconsciously mirror others as a part of normal interactions.
Leander and his colleagues created experiments to look at how people react to mimicry.
In one trial, a researcher attempted to be friendly with participants as if they were peers. Sometimes the researcher moved like the subject; if the participant touched his nose, the researcher would gesture similarly, such as scratching her head. But in other cases, the researcher would not mirror the subject’s actions. And this caused the participants’ skin to crawl -- if the researcher did not mimic the right cues, the subjects reported feeling colder. Creepers give us the chills. People believed the room temperature dropped to 68 when it remained at a steady 72.
“In the friendly situation, if you do not mimic, that’s when people’s coldness spikes,” Leander explains. “If you start feeling cold it could be an early warning sign.”
When people violate social norms, our bodies react with chills. Feeling cold is linked to a threat such as being forgotten (think left out in the cold") and the region of the brain that controls goosebumps also regulates feelings of trust and betrayal. The chills warn that something is off about a person who cannot follow social norms.
“It is about expectancy violations. That’s what particularly novel [about this research],” says Geoffrey Leonardelli, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto department of psychology and Rotman School of Management.
Leonardelli did not participate in this study, but he wrote a pivotal paper about social embodiment, feeling a physical sensation such as chills when experiencing emotions such as sadness or loneliness. His paper “Cold and Lonely: Does Social Exclusion Literally Feel Cold?” showed that people who feel lonely also feel colder and crave warmth.
“We just don’t expect that [feelings] would affect us physically,” Leonardelli says. “Exclusion leads to lower body temperature.”
In another experiment, Leander and his colleagues looked at how people react to mimicking in professional situations. When the subjects participated in mock professional setting they felt unnerved if the researcher used too much mirroring. But if the researcher reduced the mimicry, they felt more comfortable.
“If you start mimicking in a situation where it is not expected, it can be draining,” Leander says. “If there is mimicry going on when people aren’t friends it can be problematic.”
The third trial examined mimicry between white and non-white subjects. If a white researcher mirrored the behaviors of a non-white participant, the subject reported feeling colder, indicating social norms among races is constantly evolving.
More importantly, it shows that communication is nuanced. Leander notes that participants who reported being more independent felt uncomfortable by mirrored behavior.
“We are surrounded by people day in and day out and we’re building up this bank of information about what sort of nonverbal behavior is linked to certain cues. We all get some intuitive sense for it,” Leander says.
The article is in press at the journal Psychological Science.
Related:
- We go weak in the face of 'cute.' Here's why
- Brain scans show why some can't resist temptation
- Why some can't tell left from right
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Leave a Comment:
Do people get paid for these articles? Sometimes they really amaze me. This had to be studied to realize that people do not respond well to creepy looking and acting people? I think they could have called a few people for their opinions and saved some time and money. Conclusion of the study: "Creepy people give us chills!" Wow, what a shock!
The article was mostly about what makes one creepy.Very interesting.
Mitt Romney gives me the creeps! He makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Creepy!
Every time I see a liberal I get a little chill. They're always leering at me, wondering how much of what's in my bank account they can get their hands on.
:D
I guess there is no hope for Mitt Robmee now. I always though of Nutty Newt, Batty Bachmann, Hermy Germy Cain, and Sicktorum as creepy people. I guess that's why they are no longer in the running now.
Seriously getting the creeps means that skin crawly feeling that comes when danger is detected. It isn't so much about mirroring. When someone mirrors me I don't trust them because it feels like manipulation. But it isn't creepy. But when you are working at night and a security guard suddenly pops his head up over the cube or sneaks up on you and then stomps his feet right outside your cube causing a startle reflex, or happens to be standing right behind you when you turn around, well that is creepy. You feel like you're working with a crazy person who might be capable of anything. Due to multiple complaints the gaurd was fired but I still remember the goose bumps and the hair raising on my arms.
I actually found it informative especially about the mimicry part. Before you get your panties in a wad about money, this was done in the Netherlands
Watch "Deliverance". That is one film filled with a slew of creepy people.
as someone with asperger syndrome, being called creepy was commonplace throughout middle and high school. i find social cues confusing and i don't always respond to a situation in the way people want me to.
i found this article fascinating and informative.
I also have Asperger's. We can't help it that we got dropped on the wrong planet.Our planet would be a much nicer place.
FREAKS
Crubs- Getting along or fitting in is the hardest thing we do in life. Your right . It's confusing. Even when you don't have Aspergers.
I found it interesting as well. I have often wondered why I find myself creeped out by certain people, but figure that when expected social cues are not exhibited the person is trying to hide something and is not being real. Or that they are unpredictable and can't be trusted. May not always be the case and on the flip side, someone who is purposely manipulating me could use these techniques to make me feel at ease when I shouldn't. Good to be informed...
I think most people feel creeped out by people they generally are not attracted to or have no interest in. Personally. If you hit on a girl and she is not into you, she will call you a creep, although you are probably just a horny guy. And vice versa!!!!
I can't even watch that movie. That is how bad that guy creeps me out.
Javier Bardem is just incredible in that flick.
Best villian since the first Terminator.
Positive energy feels warm. Negative energy feels cold. These energies surround us all the time and affect everything we do. It's good to have an understanding of them, and of ourselves.
Nick Swardsons Creepio cereal character? Bald and black turtle-neck sweater, bvd's and patent leather shoes with brown socks. Poster child for creepy. Mittens Romney is mighty creepy!
Just so I'm clear on the concept: Somebody put the time and money into studying this and came to the conclusion that "Creepy people are creepy"? Sounds a bit tautological, to me. Also stupid.
Remember when some one made you feel creepy but you didn't know why? Well now you do.
You know, as a salesman for many years, I have learned a lot about human psychology and interacting. A warm, firm handshake, looking someone in the eye, but not to a point of being uncomfortable, mimicking, listening more than talking; these and many other actions tend to make people comfortable being together. They increase levels of trust and alikeness, which is important to people. Not so you can take advantage of someone (although some do) but just so you can be a nicer person overall.
For me this just further confirms my belief of how important it is to follow and believe one's instincts. My instincts, while I have not always followed them, have always been right. At this point in my life, I ALWAYS follow them, regardless.