Latest news with #ElianaSaunders
Fast Company
6 days ago
- Health
- Fast Company
Why you're catching the ‘ick' so easily, according to science
If you are frequently getting the ick from potential romantic partners, it might not be them. The problem might be you. A new study has found that if you possess certain personality traits, you might be more susceptible to the dreaded ick than others. Researchers Brian Collisson, Eliana Saunders, and Chloe Yin from Azusa Pacific University in Southern California found that those who are prone to disgust, hold others to high standards, or score higher in narcissism are most at risk. Even if you're unsure what we're talking about, you've likely experienced it. A now ubiquitous term in dating, the ick is used to describe the feeling of disgust that arises toward a love interest. They stumble on the side of the curb? Ick. There are remnants of red sauce around their mouth? Instant ick. Although the concept itself is not new (the ick was first coined in the 1990s TV show Ally McBeal), the term has more recently found a new lease on life online, with more than 120 million related posts on TikTok. 'Personally, I became interested in learning more about the ick when I heard that a friend of mine kept a running list on her phone notes app of every ick she'd ever experienced from a guy (it was several pages long),' Saunders, a graduate student at Azusa Pacific and the study's lead author, told Psypost. For the study, researchers asked 74 men and 51 women, ranging in age from 24 to 72, if they knew what getting the ick meant and whether they had ever experienced it. The study then measured the likelihood of participants experiencing the ick in response to specific behaviors. Participants also completed personality tests and answered questions about their dating lives. The findings are clear: Certain personality traits make participants more vulnerable to the ick. These include higher disgust sensitivity, which increases the intensity of reactions to triggers rather than the frequency of the ick occurring. Narcissism is also linked to the likelihood, though not the frequency, of experiencing the ick. Those who tend to place high expectations on others are triggered by a wider range of behaviors. Women are more likely than men to recognize the ick, though both men and women experience a similar average number of ick moments. For women, misogynistic behavior or annoying speech are immediate turnoffs. For men, it's vanity or 'overly trendy' behavior. While the ick often acts as a bucket of ice-cold water on a blossoming romance (about a quarter of participants reported ending a relationship immediately upon experiencing the ick), Saunders said people should look inward before making any hasty decisions. 'Before dumping a partner because their feet dangle when they sit in a chair, we should think critically about why we're feeling 'icked' out,' Saunders told Psypost
New York Post
11-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
If you get ‘the ick' often, you probably possess this negative personality trait — study says
If you're someone who regularly gets the ick from someone you're dating — you might be a narcissist. The term that refers to the feeling of disgust from something a romantic partner does, says or even wears has gone viral on social media in recent years. And according to a study published in Personality and Individual Differences, those who experience this feeling often might possess personality traits that indicate narcissism. For the study, researchers analyzed 74 men and 51 women, ranging in age from 24 to 72. They asked the participants if they knew what getting the ick meant and if they've ever experienced it. The study then measured the 'likelihood of experiencing the ick in response to specific behaviors, completed personality assessments and answered questions about their dating experiences,' according to Psy Post. Regarding the personality assessments participants took part in, those who showed narcsictic behavior were more likely to negatively react to a person's imperfections — especially if it contracticed what they want in a potential romantic partner. The results of the study also indicated that women experience the ick more often compared to men — which isn't surprising considering adult females are 'more sensitive to grossness than males,' according to a scientific dive by NatGeo. The results of the study indicated that women experience the ick more often compared to men. Getty Images/iStockphoto 'Anything we are averse to, that we want to avoid, or that we shrink back from — including the ick — is controlled by this area of the brain [called the habenula],' Dr. Kyra Bobinet, a California behavioral neuroscientist and author of 'Unstoppable Brain,' told Fox News Digital. 'This area of your brain is scouting for anything that's not going to work out for you,' she said. 'It has a negativity bias.' As a result, people will either immediately (26 %) or eventually (42%) end things with someone over an ick that turned them off, according to the Personality and Individual Differences study. 'This area of your brain is scouting for anything that's not going to work out for you,' said Dr. Kyra Bobinet. Getty Images/iStockphoto While many daters are quick to get rid of a potential suitor because of their quirks, study author Eliana Saunders said that people should take icks with a grain of salt and maybe think twice before completley writing off someone. 'While this feeling of disgust could be a valid marker of mate incompatibility, it could also be a symptom of high sensitivity to disgust, narcissism, other-oriented perfectionism, etc.' 'Before dumping a partner because their feet dangle when they sit in a chair, we should think critically about why we're feeling 'icked' out. Ask yourself: Is this something I truly can't deal with, or am I being overly critical? Is this 'ick' their fault, or is it mine?''
