“Would Never Be Okay If The Roles Were Reversed”: 40 Creepy Things Women Say To Men

Even though we've been describing people as creepy for some time, there was no science to help us understand it—that is, until 2016, when Francis McAndrew and Sara Koehnke of Knox College in Illinois published the first empirical study on the subject, wanting to better understand this difficult concept.

"Creepiness is all about not being able to figure out whether there is a threat,” explained McAndrew, professor of psychology and author of the study. 

The research concluded that people 'detect' creepiness when they encounter something unpredictable or outside the norm, like a person acting strangely, having an unusual physical appearance, or over- or under-expressing their emotions.

The most common characteristics of a creepy person as rated by the participants in the study were:

• The person stood too close to your friend.
• The person was dressed oddly.
• The person licked his or her lips frequently.
• The person laughed at unpredictable times.
• The person steered the conversation towards one topic.

They also indicated certain professions they deemed more offsetting than others. A clown, taxidermist, sex shop owner, and funeral director were rated highest on the creepiness scale. Meanwhile, the meteorologist's occupation evoked the most positive associations.