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When someone or something is creepy, you may shudder, internally or outwardly, because something isn’t right; in fact, it’s vaguely threatening, even if the person or situation isn’t overtly dangerous. You’re not sure why you’re getting the heebie-jeebies, but your anxiety levels are rising, and you feel nervous.

One study titled “On the nature of creepiness,” from Knox College in Illinois, which was published in the journal New Ideas in Psychology, discovered some traits that are overwhelmingly thought of as creepy, and that our creepiness detector may actually be a defense against some sort of threat.

If someone seems creepy but you can’t put your finger on why, research shows it’s probably for one of these 5 reasons:

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Authors of the study, Francis McAndrew and Sara Koehnke, interviewed 1,342 people (1,029 females and 312 males) of all ages using an online survey to determine what makes someone creepy. McAndrew, Ph.D., told Psychology Today, “Creepiness is anxiety aroused by the ambiguity of whether there is something to fear or not, and/or by the ambiguity of the precise nature of the threat (e.g., sexual, physical violence, contamination) that might be present. Thus, it is only when we are confronted with uncertainty about [the] threat that we get creeped out, and such uncertainty results in paralysis as to how to respond.”

In the first part of the survey, participants were asked to imagine that a close friend said they had just met a creepy person. The participants were then asked to rate the likelihood that the creepy person would show 44 different patterns of behavior (such as avoiding eye contact) and physical characteristics (greasy hair) on a scale of one (very unlikely) to five (very likely).

In the second half of the study, the participants were asked to rate the creepiness of 21 different occupations on a scale of one (not so creepy) to five (extremely creepy). The participants were asked to list two hobbies they thought were creepy.

Finally, the participants were asked to indicate how much they agreed with 15 statements about creepy people, such as, “I think that the person has a sexual interest in me.”

After the conclusion of the survey, researchers determined the key traits of creepy people and what makes them so off-putting to others.

: 5 ‘Creepy’ Body Language Signs That Someone Is Probably Not A Very Good Person

1. They are probably men

The survey found that creepy people are much more likely to be male than female. In fact, according to Vice in a report on the study, over 95% of respondents said creepy people were more likely to be men than women. 

That’s almost all the respondents, men and women. Women, however, were much more likely to lump creepiness and sexual threat into the same category. McAndrew noted, “women were more likely to think that the person had some sort of sexual interest in them.” 

2. They have a strange job

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Various forms of employment differ in level of perceived creepiness. But clowns, taxidermists, sex shop owners, and funeral directors were at the top of the list.

Taxidermists, sex shop owners, and funeral directors all make sense to a certain degree. Anyone who deals with death or depravity on a daily basis is automatically lumped into the creepy category, but what’s the deal with clowns? 

Researchers from the University of South Wales wanted to find out. Out of all the study participants, a whopping 53.5% admitted to having a real fear of clowns. To find out why, researchers then exclusively focused on the 53.5% with the fear. What they found was that the heavy makeup and the exaggerated facial expressions, combined with negative portrayals of clowns in movies and books, were the biggest cause of the creepy feelings around these characters, who were intended to be lighthearted and fun.

3. They are unpredictable

Unpredictability is an important component of perceived creepiness and could be considered the cause of being uncomfortable in certain social interactions. 

Professor of psychology Dr. Karen Blair explained, “Feeling ‘creeped out’ might be our way of emotionally reacting to something or someone whose intentions or meaning are unclear to us. This makes sense. Evolutionary selection pressures have attempted to help us find ways of avoiding harm.”

: Server Scolds Co-Worker For Accepting A Huge Tip From A ‘Creepy’ Customer

4. They have a variety of non-normative physical characteristics

A creepy person might tend to have oily or messy hair, bulging eyes, very pale skin, and dirty clothes. Dr. Blair explained, “We experience a sense of ambiguity when we are not able to properly categorize humanoids that look exactly like humans but somehow seem a bit ‘off,’ or when we are not quite sure of the intentions of the ‘guy at the bar, ‘ and we, therefore, develop an ambiguous feeling towards him. “

The greasy hair or sickly appearance is not the norm, and that’s what sets off our creepy sixth sense. It doesn’t mean the person is definitely a creep, but it’s our personal defense mechanism telling us to be on the lookout.

5. They have strange hobbies

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The top two creepiest hobbies were collecting things (e.g., dolls, insects, or body parts like teeth, bones, or fingernails) and watching (e.g., taking pictures of people, watching porn, and even bird-watching).

Watching absolutely makes sense, but think about the collecting for a minute in terms of pop culture. Most serial killers or “bad guys” in books and movies collect trinkets from victims or crime scenes. That kind of messaging can stick with us in the same way the clown from “It” perpetuates the fear.

“I think it makes good sense that men would be perceived as creepy more frequently. If getting ‘creeped out’ is about being on high alert to determine if there is something to be afraid of or not, men ought to set off the alarm more than women would,” McAndrew said in an interview. “Men are more potentially dangerous to men and women alike; it could also explain why women (more than men) are likely to perceive some sort of sexual threat from a creepy individual.”

If you don’t want to be thought of as creepy, it probably isn’t ideal to go into a career like taxidermy or enroll in clown school. But the fact is, you could be a woman accountant with a perfect complexion and still come across as creepy. Sometimes it just happens.

: ‘Women Have To Deal With Seriously Creepy Stuff’ — Man Shares Everything He Learned From His Female Roommate

Christine Schoenwald is a writer and performer. She’s had articles in The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Salon, Bustle, Medium, Hello Giggles, Yahoo, and Woman’s Day.