What Exactly Is The Ick?
The ick doesn’t just happen at the start of a new relationship, either.
This is because we’re constantly learning new things about our partner and even evolving ourselves.
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How Common Is the Ick?
A 2025 study examined TikTok videos to identify some of the most common triggers of “the ick.”
Certainpersonality traitsalso appear to play a role, although there are gender differences here as well.
For women,perfectionismandnarcissismwere more common.
For men, it was more linked to disgust sensitivity and distaste for behaviors they perceived as socially trendy.
What Behaviors Give People the Ick?
Just what kind of behaviors were most likely to give people the ick?
In the 2025 study, examples ranged from annoying speech patterns to publicly embarrassing behaviors to poor fashion choices.
Lets say that you have been dating a person for five months.
You become absolutely repulsed in this moment and find it hard to shake.
It affects your feelings toward them so much that you begin to distance yourself.
This is just one example of a million potential scenarios.
Lets dive into some of those scenarios in more detail.
One way that we may psychologically cope with this reality is to start to view our partner less favorably.
This can make it easier to extricate ourselves from arelationshipthat we assume is headed nowhere.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the relationship is over, but it should trigger us to re-evaluate.
[Getting the ick] means that some deeper analysis will be well worth the time and effort."
Can You Get Past The Ick?
Is your relationship completely doomed if you get the ick?
Stockard acknowledges that the ick can be hard to shake.
Otherwise, you may continue this cycle without intervention.
Speaking with a therapist is one way to better understand this behavior in yourself.
2023;14(8):900-910. doi:10.1177/19485506221137958
