Irritated by Fidgeters? Seems You’re Not Alone

Do you find the fidgeting of others mildly irritating or even vexing? According to a 2021 study undertaken by researchers at the University of British Columbia (Canada), the stressful sensations caused by seeing others fidget affect as many as one in three people.

Across three studies that included 4,100 participants, the researchers confirmed the existence of misokinesia (meaning ‘hatred of movement’) sensitivity in both student and non-student populations, with approximately one-third of participants self-reporting some degree of sensitivity to seeing the repetitive, fidgeting behaviours of others as encountered in their daily lives.

The researchers ran tests to see if people’s misokinesia might originate in heightened visual-attentional sensitivities, amounting to an inability to block out distracting events occurring in their visual periphery.

The results based on early experiments were inconclusive on that front. However, the researchers also wanted to explore whether motor neurons are involved. The lead researcher, psychologist Sumeet Jaswal, explained “These neurons activate when we move but they also activate when we see others move… For example, when you see someone get hurt, you may wince as well, as their pain is mirrored in your own brain.”

By extension, it’s possible that misokinesia-prone people might be unconsciously empathizing with the psychology of fidgeters. And not in a good way.

“A reason that people fidget is because they’re anxious or nervous so when individuals who suffer from misokinesia see someone fidgeting, they may mirror it and feel anxious or nervous as well,” Jaswell said.

One thing is certain though. The study shows that this unusual phenomenon is much more usual than first realised.

From: “Misokinesia is a sensitivity to seeing others fidget that is prevalent in the general population” by Sumeet M. Jaswal, Andreas K. F. DeBleser and Todd C. Handy, published in Nature, accessed on line at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-96430-4

• Topics:

• Mental Health & Wellbeing