In modern dating, the “ick” is a term that is meant in the first place experienced by women and feared by men.
The term has gone viral on social media in recent years and describes a feeling of disgust at the actions, appearance and other characteristics of one’s partner.
Some examples of popular icks include people chewing with their mouths open, wearing slippers, or tripping over their own feet while walking.
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The list is limited to a more specific set of icks that have appeared on the Internet, including distaste for the way men chase a ping pong ball, or even use a debit card instead of a credit card on a date.
A woman posted a video on TikTok of her partner walking around the apartment wearing tiny no-show socks. (TikTok/Screenshot/Amanda)
Primal instinct
National Geographic claims that the “ick” feeling is related to a primal biological instinct.
In several primate species, including humans, adult females are “more sensitive to rudeness than males,” according to a NatGeo science dive.
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“For example, female gray mouse lemurs and Japanese macaques are more likely than males to turn up their noses at contaminated food, while female western lowland gorillas and olive baboons tend to avoid conspecifics with skin infections,” the report said.
This caution then leads to a lower incidence of cancer infectious disease in women, according to scientists.
Female Japanese macaques “are more likely than males to turn their noses up at contaminated food,” experts say. (iStock)
Cecile Sarabian, a cognitive ecologist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, France, told NatGeo that there is a “protective power in the ‘yuck’.”
She suggested that females’ pickiness about what they eat and who they expose themselves to “may be one of the reasons why female primates live longer than males.”
“Scientists don’t know why many female animals – including humans – are more easily extrapolated than males.”
Elizabeth Anne Brown, a National Geographic writer based in Denmark, commented on these findings.
“Scientists don’t know why many female animals – including humans – are extrapolated more easily than males,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“But ‘yuck’ acts as a sophisticated guardian of our immune system, limiting our exposure to things that can make us sick, such as parasites and bacteria.“
Disgust “plays an important role” in mate choice for primates, Brown said, because females of some species “will absolutely turn off potential suitors (who) have symptoms of STDs.”
“Female gorillas take ‘the ick’ so seriously that they essentially skip town and start a new life,” said a NatGeo writer. (iStock)
“When the male of a troop of western lowland gorillas develops pale spots on his face – a symptom of an infection with treponema, the same contagious bacteria that causes syphilis in humans – some females will abandon the pride completely and look for an uninfected male,” she said.
“These female gorillas take ‘the ick’ so seriously that they actually skip town and start a new life.”
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Analyzing Japanese macaques, Sarabian noted how the females brushed away all the leaf litter from their acorns before eating them, while the males “were more likely to gobble up the food after barely looking at it.”
“Unfortunately, the only dating advice we can get from our primate cousins is to be careful about STDs – always a good policy.”
Those who are easily affected by it should try to change their perception of the situation, an expert suggested. (iStock)
The psychology of feeling icky
Dr. Kyra Bobinet, a behavioral neuroscientist from California and author of ‘Unstoppable Brain’, has explained what happens in the brain when someone is disgusted.
‘Everything we dislike, want to avoid, or shy away from – including the ick – is governed by this system. area of the brain (called the habenula),” she told Fox News Digital.
According to the expert, the habenula is a central part of the brain that is involved in several important functions, including motivation and decision-making.
The habenula is a central part of the brain involved in several important functions, including motivation and decision-making. (iStock)
When this area is activated, “it kills our motivation to try,” Bobinet said.
“This part of your brain is looking for anything that isn’t working for you,” she said. “It has a negativity bias.”
The expert encourages those who are ‘getting sick of it’ to try to change their perception of the situation.
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Bobinet also agreed that women are biologically more prone to self-awareness of “annoying” feelings because they are “made to making babies.”
“We have to be very sensitive to our environment, because we have to protect the baby from fumes, from danger, from all these things,” she explained.
Women are biologically more prone to self-awareness of “annoying” feelings because they are “made to make babies,” an expert noted. (iStock)
The role of social media
According to Bobinet, the ick is ‘taken to the extreme’ on social media – ‘and you can become very limited and too picky.’
This is possible interfere with dating, the expert suggested, because criteria for a partner are becoming ‘unrealistic’.
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M. David Rudd, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Memphis, said there are “undoubtedly evolutionary reasons” for disgust “across genders.”
“But it is important to always take into account the issue of social learning and its related reinforcement in the current phenomenon, driven by the wide and unprecedented reach of social media,” he told Fox News Digital.
Modern dating brings struggles for both genders, experts said. (iStock)
Rudd noted that social media creators are also motivated by attention and financial gain, which can move with trends more than “any meaningful evolutionary goal.”
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“Those most vulnerable to mimicking behavior on social media are often those who need the central motivators most to begin with – attention is key, quickly followed by money,” he said.
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“Extrapolating and interpreting evolutionary advantages in this context is likely to lead to significantly high error rates.”
