The Ick Factor: Explaining the Term Through Lenses of Sexual Disgust and Avoidant Attachment Style

<p>The phenomenon of the “ick” has gained significant traction in the context of modern romantic relationships, particularly across social media platforms, where individuals describe trivial negative traits and habits in potential and current romantic partners. Despite their trivial nature, icks are often treated as meaningful dealbreakers, raising questions about whether they reflect genuine psychological processes or are simply a social media trend. The present study examined whether the presence of an ick influences perceptions of attractiveness and dateability, and whether individual differences in sexual disgust sensitivity and attachment style help explain icks and reactions to icks. Participants (N = 236) completed a survey in which they rated fabricated dating profiles and first-date vignettes that either included or excluded icks. Participants also completed measures of sexual disgust sensitivity and attachment style. Results from linear mixed effects models indicated that the presence of an ick did not significantly predict ratings of attractiveness, short-term dating interest, or long-term dating interest. However, there was a significant interaction between ick presence and profile 2, indicating that the presence of icks had a stronger negative effect on attractiveness for this profile compared to others. No other interactions were significant. Sexual disgust sensitivity was associated with lower attraction and short-term dating interest overall. Additionally, participants who reported noticing icks scored significantly higher in sexual disgust sensitivity than those who did not. Avoidant attachment style was not associated with attractivess, dateability, or noticing icks. Although the overall findings suggest that icks may not directly influence romantic evaluations in controlled settings, further research is warranted to better understand the role of icks in modern dating contexts.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2026

Author dc:creator

• O'Halloran, Maxum

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ann Marie Yali

• : Icks
• romantic relationships
• dating
• social media
• sexual disgust
• attachment style
• Personality and Social Contexts
• Social Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1320

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:cc_etds_theses-2404