Have you ever gotten creeped out by someone, and you didn’t ever know why exactly?

You’re definitely not the only one, and now scientists are trying to find out why it is that we feel this way.

A new survey from Know College social psychologist Franics McAndrew tried to uncover what characteristics it is that make someone seem creepy.

Why do people make you give you a creepy feeling?

Lisa Wade, a sociology professor and founder of the blog Sociological Images adds that “things we know are dangerous scare us- but if we’re unsure if we’re under threat, that’s when things get creepy.”

 

So, when are we more likely to feel unsure about someone?

The number one reasons people found themselves creeped out by another was if they felt they were being watched.

The second characteristic which people attributed towards being creepy was when someone touched them frequently while they were speaking. Number three was people steering the conversation toward sex. 

For his study, McAndrew surveyed more than 1,300 people between the ages of 18 and 77 about behaviours and characteristics associated with creepiness.

The study first suggested a situation in which a trustworthy friend met someone who they thought was creepy.

Survey participants then rated the likelihood, on a scale from 1 ("very unlikely") to 5 ("very likely"), of the creepy person to possess certain physical attributes, like "greasy hair, which scored an average creepy level of 3.9.  

Of those surveyed, 95 per cent considered men to be more likely to be creeps than women. Surprising absolutely no one, the top profession thought to be held by a creepy person was clown, followed by taxidermists, sex shop owners, and funeral directors.