Frank T. McAndrew, Ph.D.
Social Psychologist & Essayist
Most frequently cited scholarly publications
McAndrew, F. T. and Jeong, H. S. (2012). Who does what on Facebook? Age, sex, and relationship status as predictors of Facebook use. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 2359-2365.
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McAndrew, F. T. (1993). Environmental Psychology. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
McAndrew, F. T. (1998). The measurement of "Rootedness" and the prediction of attachment to hometowns in college tudents. The Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18, 409-417.
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McAndrew, F. T., Bell, E. K., & Garcia, C. M. (2007). Who do we tell, and whom do we tell on? Gossip as a strategy for status enhancement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 1562-1577.
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McAndrew, F. T. (2002). New evolutionary perspectives on altruism: Multilevel selection and costly signaling theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 79-82.
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McAndrew, F. T., & Milenkovic, M. A. (2002). Of tabloids and family secrets: The evolutionary psychology of gossip. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1064-1082.
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Klinesmith, J., Kasser, T., & McAndrew, F. T. (2006). Guns, testosterone, and aggression: An experimental test of a mediational model. Psychological Science, 17, 568-571.
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McAndrew, F. T. (2014). The "sword of a woman": Gossip and female aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 196-199.
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McAndrew, F. T. (1986). A cross-cultural study of recognition thresholds for facial expressions of emotion. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 17, 211-224.
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Bardack, N. R., & McAndrew, F. T. (1985). The influence of physical attractiveness and manner of dress on success in a simulated personnel decision. Journal of Social Psychology, 125, 777-778.
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McAndrew, F. T., & Koehnke, S. S. (2016). On the nature of creepiness. New Ideas in Psychology, 43, 10-15.​
De Backer, C., Nelissen, M., Vyncke, P., Braeckman, J., & McAndrew, F. T. (2007). Celebrities: From teachers to friends. A test of two hypotheses on the adaptiveness of celebrity gossip. Human Nature, 18, 334 - 354.
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McAndrew, F., T. (2021). Costly Signaling Theory. In T. Shackelford & V. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, pp. 1525-1532. New York: SpringerMeteor.
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Rybak, A., & McAndrew, F. T. (2006). How do we decide whom our friends are? Defining levels of friendship in Poland and the United States. Journal of Social Psychology. 146, 147 -163.​
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McAndrew, F. T. (2019). Gossip as a social skill. In F. Giardini & R. Wittek (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation, pp. 173-192. New York: Oxford University Press.
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McAndrew, F. T. (2008, October/November). Can Gossip be Good? Scientific American Mind Magazine (Cover Story), pp. 26-33).
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McAndrew, F. T., & Perilloux, C. (2012). Is self-sacrificial competitive altruism primarily a male activity? Evolutionary Psychology, 10, 50-65.​​​
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McAndrew, F. T. (2009). The interacting roles of testosterone and challenges to status in human male aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 330-335.​
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McAndrew, F. T., & Shah, S. S. (2013). Sex differences in jealousy over Facebook activity. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 2603-2606.
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O'Connell, B. J., Harper, R. S., & McAndrew, F. T. (1985). Grip strength as a function of exposure to red or green visual stimulation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 1157-1158.
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Mast, J. F., & McAndrew, F. T. (2011). Violent lyrics in heavy metal music can increase aggression in males. North American Journal of Psychology, 13, 63-64.​
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Minervini, B. P., & McAndrew, F. T. (2006). The mating strategies and mate preferences of mail order brides. Cross Cultural Research, 40, 111-129.​
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McAndrew, F. T. (2017). How “The Gossip” became a woman and how “Gossip” became her weapon of choice. In M. L. Fisher (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition (pp. 191-205). New York: Oxford University Press.
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McAndrew, F. T., & Garrison, A. J. (2007). Beliefs about gender differences in methods and causes of suicide. Archives of Suicide Research, 11, 271-279.
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Brackney, M., & McAndrew, F.T. (2001). Ecological world views and receptivity to different types of arguments for preserving endangered species. Journal of Environmental Education, 33, 17-20.
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McAndrew, F. T., et al., (2000). A multicultural study of stereotyping in English-speaking countries. Journal of Social Psychology, 140, 487-502.
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McAndrew, F. T., Akande, A., Turner, S., & Sharma, Y. (1998). A cross-cultural ranking of stressful life events in Germany, India, South Africa, and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29, 717-727.
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Johnson, J. L., McAndrew, F. T., & Harris, P. B. (1991). Sociobiology and the naming of adopted and natural children. Evolution and Human Behavior, 12, 365-375.​​
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McAndrew, F. T. (2017). Competition. In P. I. Joseph (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. (pp. 367-368). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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McAndrew, F. T. (2020). The psychology, geography, and architecture of horror: How places creep us out. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 4 (2), 47-61.
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McAndrew, F. T., & De Jonge, C. R. (2011). Electronic person perception: What do we infer about people from the style of their e-mail messages? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 403-407.
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McAndrew, F. T. (1993). The home advantage in individual sports. Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 401-403.​
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McAndrew, F. T. (1985). A classroom demonstration of the primacy effect in the attribution of ability. Teaching of Psychology, 12(4), 209-211).
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McAndrew, F. T. (2003). Evolution and the problem of altruism: Current and historical perspectives. In S. Shohov (Ed.), Advances in Psychology Research, Volume 27 (pp. 277-288) Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
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Nichols, K. R., & McAndrew, F. T. (1984). Stereotyping and autostereotyping in Spanish, Malaysian, and American college students. Journal of Social Psychology, 124 (2), 179-189.
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McAndrew, F. T., King, J. C., & Honoroff, L. R. (2002). A sociobiological analysis of namesaking patterns in 322 American families. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 851-864.
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McAndrew, F. T., & Perilloux, C. (2012). The selfish hero: A study of the benefits of self-sacrificial prosocial behavior. Psychological Reports, 111 (1), 27-43.
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McAndrew, F. T. (1981). Pattern of performance and attributions of ability and gender. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 583-587.​​​
Popular press essays with more than 40,000 readers
Why Losing a Dog can be Harder than Losing a Relative or Friend (Over 5.5 million readers)(March 9, 2017)
(The Conversation, Upworthy, IFL Science, The Houston Chronicle, Alternet, Quartz, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News, Psychology Today, Starts at Sixty, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, SPAG Magazine, Mamamia, The Observer, The Telegraph, Business Mirror, Business Insider, Natural Blaze, Facts and Opinions, Tonic (Vice), Slate, Quartz, Magnet, Entrepeneur, Univision, La Nueva Espana, Culturizando, The Philly Voice, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, India TV, The Big Smoke, Erraticus, PsyPost, The Pantagraph, The Southern Illinoisan, SitNews, Irish Examiner, OregonLive.com, Wall Street Window, The Fresh Toast, Considerable, McCall Digest, RawStory, Times Herald-Record, MENAFN, Considerable, & YourTango)
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The Psychology Behind Why Clowns Creep Us Out
(Over three million Readers)(September 28, 2016)
(PBS NewsHour, CNN, The Daily Mail, Scientific American,The Daily Beast, The Conversation, Raw Story, Time, Quartz, Business Insider, Salon, IFL Science, Psychology Today, Bangor Daily News, The Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Science Alert, Alternet, TEGNA (Local TV/Website Chain), Intellectual Takeout, Yahoo News, Popular Science, The Maui News, Snopes.com, Mic, Inverse, The New Republic, Considerable, The Wire, New Orleans Advocate, WHYY TV (Philadelphia), Curiosity, National Geographic Indonesia, Art in Real Life, & others)
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Beauty Cues: Four Traits Men Unknowingly Seek in Women.
(Over three million readers)((Psychology Today Magazine)
(Online - July 10, 2017; In Print - December, 2017, Vol. 50, #6, pp. 42-43) (Also appears in Questia & Your Tango)
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(Over two million readers) (Scientific American Mind Magazine
- Cover Story, October/November, 2008, pp. 26-33) Published online as: The Science of Gossip: Why You Can't Stop Yourself
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Why Some People See Ghosts and Other Presences.
(Over two million readers) (July 9, 2015)
(Psychology Today; Also appears in The Next Truth & Your Tango)
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Why You Shouldn't Want to be Happy All of the Time.
(Over one million readers) (August 11, 2016)
(Time, Business Insider, RawStory, IFLScience, Salon, The Conversation, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, CNN, Le Point, Ouest-France, Slate, Quartz, Medical Daily, Science Alert, Real Clear Science, The Age, Science Rocks My World, Intellectual Takeout, Associated Press, Reliawire,& TEGNA (Local TV/Website Chain), The Good Men Project, Yahoo, & Psychology Today)
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How to have a great conversation.
(Over One Million Readers)
(Psychology Today Magazine, May/June 2023, Vol. 56 (3), pp. 44-45)
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The Evolutionary Psychology of Mass Shootings.
(Over 625,000 readers) (December 4, 2015)
(IFLScience, CNN, Newsweek, The Daily Mail, Psychology Today, The Conversation, Scroll.In, Quartz, Eyewitness News, & The Huffington Post)
Why High School Stays with Us Forever
(Over 500,000 readers) (June 1, 2016)
(Business Insider, The Washington Post, The Academic Minute, The Guardian, Raw Story, Psychology Today, The Associated Press, The Conversation, Quartz, Alternet, Magnet, PsyPost, & Salon)
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The Surprising Factor that Can Predict Your Life Span
(Over 400,000 readers) (May 9, 2016)
(Psychology Today; also appears in Patriot Health Digest & YourTango)
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(Over 350,000 Readers, Psychology Today - October 1, 2019)
(a shortened version of this article appeared in several dozen media outlets, including The Conversation, Chicago Tribune, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, San Francisco Chronicle, Quartz, Psychology Today, Albany Times Union, Big Think,
Colorado Music Business Organization, Der Freitag, Curiosity.com,
Next Truth: Young People Science, The Texarkana Gazette, Purple Sneakers, & The Baltimore Sun)
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Why Some People Creep Us Out So Much /
(Over 350,000 readers) (April 27, 2016; May 19, 2015)
(Psychology Today Magazine)
(A related article appeared in HRZone (June 6, 2016) as:
"How Can We Better Understand the Office Creep?")
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How the God You Worship Influences the Ghosts You See.
(Over 350,000 readers) (October 26, 2017)
(The Conversation, Quartz, Raw Story, Psychology Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Houston Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, QRIUS, Magnet, PsyPost, The News Minute, The Big Think, MENAFN.com, Business Mirror, The Durango Herald, The Next Truth, & TEGNA (Local TV /website chain))
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The Perils of a Life in Isolation
(Over 300,000 Readers) (November 11, 2016)
(The Conversation, Inner Self, PsyPost, Associated Press, IFL Science, Intellectual Takeout, All4Women, Spring.St, & Psychology Today)
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Decoding The Freudian Symbolism in Your Dreams.
(Over 300,000 Readers)
(Psychology Today Magazine - January 1, 2018)
(Also appears in The Minds Journal)
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Gossip is a Social Skill - NOT a Character Flaw.
(Over 285,000 readers) (January 20, 2016)
(Time, Raw Story, Quartz, Mashable, The Conversation, Psychology Today, Core Aspect, Quillette, Business Insider, LiveScience,
BizCatalyst360.com, Business Mirror, & The New Republic).
Houses of Horror (Aeon Magazine)
(over 250,000 readers)(October 21, 2019)
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Why Some People See Ghosts While Others Never Do
(Over 235,000 Readers) (Psychology Today - October 12, 2021)
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(Over 230,000 Readers)
(Psychology Today Magazine - April 22, 2018)
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How to Avoid Creeping Women Out
(Over 220,000 Readers)(Psychology Today Magazine - July 4, 2017)​
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Why There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays.
(Over 200,000 readers)(December 13, 2017)
(The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Mail, The Conversation, LiveScience, Patch.com, Inverse, Univision, Curiosity.com, Inverse, & The Week)
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Evolutionary Psychology Explains Why Haunted Houses Creep Us Out. (Over 200,000 readers) (October 29, 2015)
(Time, Newsweek, GOOD Magazine, LiveScience, Mashable, The Conversation, Psychology Today, The RawStory, PsyPost, Rock River Times, India TV, Fast Company, Neuroscience News, & Business Insider.)
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Why Men Will Always Be More Disgusting Than Women
(Over 170,000 Readers)
(Psychology Today Magazine - January 9, 2018)
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Why Intelligent Men May Not Be as Attractive as We Thought
(Over 120,000 Readers)(Psychology Today - November 9, 2021)
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Why You Underestimate How Much Other People Like You
(Over 100,000 Readers)(Psychology Today, December 11, 2018)
(Also in The Minds Journal)
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Why We Still Fall for the "Nigerian Prince" Scam
(Over 80,000 Readers - August 3, 2018)
(The Conversation, Salon, Channel News Asia,The Houston Chronicle, Inverse, San Francisco Chronicle, iAfrikan, Heavy, Psychology Today, MercatorNet, International Business Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Reader, The Associated Press
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Gossip in Your Office Probably Does More Good Than Harm
(Over 80,000 readers) (June 10, 2016)
(HRZone, Business Insider, & Psychology Today)
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Is Your Personality Stressing You Out?
(Over 75,000 Readers)(Psychology Today - March 9, 2020)
(also in The Minds Journal)
Nothing Says "Old Dude" Like Getting a Motorcycle.
(Over 75,000 Readers)(Psychology Today Magazine - July 8, 2015)
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Home is Where the Heart is, But Where is "Home"?
(Over 75,000 Readers) (Psychology Today - August 3, 2015)
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When Do Personality Traits Predict Behavior?
(Over 65,000 Readers) (Psychology Today, October 2, 2018)
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Is Polygamy a Better Deal for Men or for Women?
(Over 55,000 Readers) (Psychology Today - July 23, 2018)
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Is a lack of humility at the root of what ails America?
(Over 50,000 readers)(May 23, 2019)
(Newsweek, Salon, The Conversation, Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Towle Road, Government Executive, AlterNet, BIZCATALYST 360, Garn Press, Scroll India, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Libertarian Republic, Kitsap Sun, GAYNRD, & others)
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Why Face Masks Give Us the Creeps
(Over 50,000 Readers) (Psychology Today - June 1, 2020)
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Why it is so easy to hate each other
(Over 50,000 Readers) (Psychology Today - July 14, 2016)
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3 keys to the power and meaning of eye contact
(Over 45,000 Readers)(Psychology Today - September 2, 2022)
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How we really choose our friends
(Over 40,000 Readers)(Psychology Today - August 25, 2022)
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Why male and female friendships are so different.
(Over 40,000 Readers)(Psychology Today - April 4, 2022)
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How to get other people to like you.
(Over 40,000 Readers)(Psychology Today - March 14, 2023)
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Your sense of humor can serve as "social radar".
(Over 40,000 Readers)(Psychology Today, - April 28, 2018)