'Misokinesia' Phenomenon Could Affect 1 in 3 People, Study Reveals

Noticing someone fidget can be distracting - irritating, even excruciating. But what makes it feel so unbearable?

A study published in 2021 suggests the stress triggered by watching other people fidget is remarkably widespread, affecting as many as one in three people.

Misokinesia: why other people’s fidgeting can feel unbearable

The phenomenon is known as misokinesia, literally meaning “hatred of movements”. Although it has only recently attracted sustained scientific attention, it has previously been mentioned alongside a related condition: misophonia, in which certain repetitive sounds provoke irritation.

Researchers say misokinesia is comparable in some respects, except that its triggers are usually visual rather than auditory.

Watch the video below for a summary of the research:

"[Misokinesia] is defined as a strong negative affective or emotional response to the sight of someone else's small and repetitive movements, such as seeing someone mindlessly fidgeting with a hand or foot," a team of researchers, led by first author and psychologist Sumeet Jaswal, then at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, explained in a study published in 2021.

"Yet surprisingly, scientific research on the topic is lacking."

How common is misokinesia?

To address that gap, Jaswal and colleagues carried out what they described as the “first in-depth scientific exploration” of misokinesia. Their results indicate that heightened sensitivity to fidgeting is something many people contend with.

Across multiple experiments involving more than 4,100 participants, the team estimated how prevalent misokinesia is among university students and members of the general public. They also examined how it affects people and considered why the sensations might arise.

"We found that approximately one-third self-reported some degree of misokinesia sensitivity to the repetitive, fidgeting behaviors of others as encountered in their daily lives," the researchers explained.

"These results support the conclusion that misokinesia sensitivity is not a phenomenon restricted to clinical populations, but rather, is a basic and heretofore under-recognized social challenge shared by many in the wider, general population."

Based on their analysis, misokinesia can sometimes coincide with the sound sensitivity seen in misophonia - but that overlap is not guaranteed.

The experience also differs widely from person to person: some report only mild discomfort in response to fidgeting cues, whereas others describe being strongly affected.

The impact: anger, anxiety, frustration - and avoiding social situations

"They are negatively impacted emotionally and experience reactions such as anger, anxiety, or frustration as well as reduced enjoyment in social situations, work, and learning environments," explained UBC psychologist Todd Handy.

"Some even pursue fewer social activities because of the condition."

Handy’s interest in the topic began after a partner pointed out that he fidgeted, and told him she felt stressed when he did so (and when anyone else did, too).

"As a visual cognitive neuroscientist, this really piqued my interest to find out what is happening in the brain," Handy said.

The “million-dollar question”: what causes misokinesia?

That raises the obvious question: why can fidgeting be so annoying to watch?

In the study, the researchers tested whether misokinesia might stem from unusually strong visual-attentional sensitivity - in effect, a difficulty filtering out distracting events in the edges of one’s visual field.

Those early experiments did not provide a clear answer. The team reported no solid evidence that reflexive visual attention mechanisms make a substantial contribution to misokinesia sensitivity.

Even so, while the cognitive roots of misokinesia remain uncertain, the researchers outlined possibilities to investigate next.

"One possibility we want to explore is that their 'mirror neurons' are at play," Jaswal said.

"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 that logic, people prone to misokinesia could be unconsciously echoing the internal state of the person who is fidgeting - though not in a helpful 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," Jaswal said.

Whether that explanation is correct remains an open question, and only further investigation will be able to confirm it. A follow-up study led by Jaswal in 2024 involving 21 volunteers suggested the condition may relate more to difficulty disengaging from a stimulus than to the initial capture of attention.

More common than we thought

One point, however, seems hard to dispute: these findings suggest that a phenomenon many consider unusual may, in fact, be far more ordinary than previously assumed.

"To those who are suffering from misokinesia, you are not alone," Handy said. "Your challenge is common and it's real."

The findings are reported in Scientific Reports.

An earlier version of this article was published in September 2021.