How to Appear Less Creepy | What is the Nature of Creepiness?

This video answers the question: How can one appear to be less creepy? I found an article published in 2016 that had a sample size of over 1300 participants that was titled “On the nature of creepiness” and it is an excellent article looking at what it means to be creepy and how people form these perceptions of creepiness. First, we have to understand this concept of the creepiness detector. What does our creepiness detector really warn us about? Does it warne us about physical or social harm or something else? It doesn’t seem like it is closely related physical or social harm, but rather creepiness is about anxiety being aroused. It's the ambiguity about whether something is threatening or whether something should be feared. Tt's the ambiguity about the precise nature of a threat as well. Creepy is really different than concepts like disgusting or terrifying because with those concepts the way we should react is pretty clear.

[Book_Bird]

"... instead talk about meteorology, farming, and economics..." So impressed you kept a straight face!

[chuckufarley]

I am taking a middle of the road approach. I am a TV meteorologist, but I do the forecast in a clown suit

[jeremywvarietyofviewpoints]

Dr. Grande has turned comedian and he's funny.

[yusefendure]

Too much eye contact can also be considered creepy.

[DalCecilRuno]

Sick and tired of the stigma of not giving eye contact. I'm partially blind and my eyes move all over the place. I avoid eye contact precisely to avoid all the stupidity that comes with interacting with people who don't have a clue about being visually impaired. Still, "I am creepy, I am probably autistic, I am rude, I am distracted, not a good listener, I'm a liar..." and all the other shit that studies find about people who don't give eye contact. I am so done with the stigma.

...anyway, apart from that, it was an interesting video. Thank you for putting it out there.

[tarihardy]

Not only did Dr. Grande’s videos save my life during my two doctoral statistics courses, but now he’s also teaching me how to not appear creepy... how did I ever make it this far in life without knowing this stuff?!

[georgemccaffery]

I think the very nature of 'creepiness' is that intuitive feeling we get when we feel that a person has socially unseemly intentions or motives they are hiding. Not knowing a person's motives or intentions puts us on edge.

[andrewparan]

It's sad that mental illness is creepy. It's hard enough living with a mental illness and rejection because of accidentally coming off as creepy can exacerbate symptoms even more.

[nicelydone]

Yesterday I went to the hardware store to buy paint. The paint dept has a couple of ladies I see from time to time and we talk, and they remember my face. We noticed a man that hovered around. He was wearing an Indiana Jones hat, circle thin wire, eye glasses. Eventually one of the women approached him bc he just stared but wasnt really in the paint dept. She saw him filming the women. That's also an example of how not to be creepy.

[christinewilliams]

My adult nephew has Aspergers and some quite odd behaviours and is socially awkward. But in the family we appreciate his other qualities such as intellect, sense of humour, great curiosity and love of animals. I know he has often been labelled as creepy by his peers. So I caution anyone who is quick to label others!

[cloisterene]

No offense, but I've definitely met a lot of creepy doctors. I literally shudder thinking about their behaviors that put them in that category.

[vickielawson]

Years ago I got told a coworker had described me as creepy. I'm highly intelligent but have Asperger autism. I've had to learn how to appear more normal through the years and have come a long way. It really annoyed me that I'd been described that way, especially since I wanted that person to like me. Just because you aren't a typical, cheerful dimwit makes you a creep sometimes I guess.

[angela]

Your scenario describing an individual with a high level of creepiness had me laughing out loud 😂.

[tigger]

Lol long time ago I went to a beauty store with my mom. The woman who worked there and assisted us was pretty creepy lol My mom looks pretty young, so sometimes people think she's my woman.

So the woman thought she was my girlfriend and was telling me how pretty she was and what a handsome young man I was, while holding my damn arm. I then corrected her and told her that she was my mom, and the normal reaction was astonishment.

"Oh wow she looks so young!" Typical response.

Then she said that I could go out with my mom and that nobody would ever know 😕 still holding on to my arm. I just chuckled.

Now that was some creepy shit right there 😂 This woman was probably in her mid to late 50s.

I subscribed. I like your channel!

[susanne]

09:50 - "So the theory generated from these findings is that individuals who display unusual patterns of nonverbal behaviour, odd emotional responses, or who have highly distinctive physical characteristics are outside of the norm and may be determined as unpredictable, may be assessed as unpredictable by other people, which leads to an increased perception of creepiness. This increased level of creepiness really increases vigilance and it makes somebody kind of work to figure out if somebody should be feared or not. Now interestingly these results did not indicate that people that are assessed as creepy are also assessed as having ill intentions, but rather they're just maybe a worry about the potential of dangerousness."

In my opinion, that's the most important bit. A lot really seems to have to do with prejudices, wrong assumptions, flawed conclusions and ambiguous novelty.

I wholeheartedly agree with clowns being assessed as creepy. I cannot understand why clowns are supposedly helpful in clinical context.

If people seem creepy due to no fault of their own, i.e. autism spectrum, facial paralysis, severe mental illness, side effects of certain medications and other, I find it very helpful to make a conscious effort to get used to these people and/ or these characteristics. In my experience the feeling of creepiness will completely disappear.

I would have been interested in finding out if there is a cultural component. In Europe I expect some people in some areas of life to be eccentric and interestingly weird, challenging my curiousity and my response. - While"creepy" would always encompass "too close for comfort" and "alarming since possibly dangerous". That's just my opinion, though.

Thank you very much!

[EH]

Dr. Grande, hitting it out of the park every single question, no exceptions! It's so great that you do answer people's queries in a genuine and serious way without assuming that it's not serious enough to warrant analysis. The concept of creepy is pretty important to me! A lot of men resentfully say that women call men creepy willy-nilly without justification, and that it's used as a baseless reason to shame someone. Which I think is just a very narrow view, because it really is that women HAVE to watch for this kind of sign far, far more. Thank you, Dr. Grande!

[Kirkwoodclay]

Me: sitting in my car alone, taking notes. Lmfao

[johnparadise]

9:01 “And, the most creepy occupation of all: clown!

9:18 “And, the least creepy of all: meteorologist!”

[fredjones]

I can only communicate through my stuffed cat which I use as a puppet. Is that creepy?

[grendo]

11:20 this part really had me laughing xDD
A greasy haired clown that owns a sex shop and talks to younger women he doesnt know and steers the conversation towards sex, yeah, maybe some people perceive such a thing as creepy xD