Do those who have itchy feet bother you? Researchers have looked into the reasons for this strange reaction in society.
Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, but some are less well known than others. We have thus recently been able to discover the concept of misophoniathe fact of being bothered by certain sounds, or even of downright not supporting them.
Repetitive movements that annoy
But researchers at the University of British Columbia(1)in Canada, discovered for their part that it can also happen that we are annoyed, and even indisposed or angered by the fact of seeing someone moving their leg and foot constantly when seated, or constantly tapping their fingers on the table. This inability to remain stable, posed and still, can also be embarrassing.
This is what these researchers have highlighted by carrying out a behavioral study on a total of 4,100 people aged 17 to 66 years. All of them had to fill out a form on sounds and movements. They were thus asked if they experienced negative reactions and thoughts when observing people around them who were on the move. What if they felt the same in the presence of specific, repetitive sounds around them?
Mirror neurons in play?
51% of people having answered yes to the second question, and more than 38% yes to the first, they decided to carry out not one, but two studies in order to measure “the emotional and social impact” of these reactions. « We found that a third of our participants felt sensitivities when they saw others fidgeting. They are negatively affected emotionally and experience reactions such as anger, anxiety or frustration as well as reduced enjoyment in social situations, work and learning environments,” explains Dr. Handy, professor of psychology at UBC and co-author of the study.
Apparently, these impacts increase with age, with older people reporting a wider range of genes. Where does this discomfort called misokinesis come from? “We wanted to explore the possibility that their “mirror neurons” are at play, explains Sumeet Jaswal, a UBC psychology doctoral student and co-author of the study. These neurons fire when we move, but they also activate when we see others moving. This is where the term “mirror” comes from, because we mirror the movements of others in our brain. »
A third of the population would suffer from this psychological phenomenon
Some empathy or sympathy
“These neurons help us understand other people and the intention behind their movements. They are related to empathy, deciphers the psychology researcher. For example, when you see someone hurting themselves, you may also wince, as his pain is reflected in your own brain and this causes you to feel his emotions and empathize with him. So if a person is fidgeting out of anxiety or nervousness, the person with misokinesis will reflect that attitude. »
Further studies will now be needed to substantiate these behavioral findings. The duo of researchers now intends to further study what happens before the impact of this social malaise. And in particular to be able to determine whether there is a genetic component, or not, to this misokinesis, literally “hatred of movements”.
Are you misokinetic? The researchers created a website on the subject if you want to know more.
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