Psychology Today | 13.09.2026 23:37
We often decide we don’t like someone—a colleague, an acquaintance, an actor or influencer—simply because they "annoy" or "irritate" us. The habit someone has of flicking their hair, or sniffing or swallowing or the way they laugh, is enough for us to limit our exposure to them. As long as our irritation can be contained while contact is necessary and not leach into rudeness, no further reflection seems warranted. Our idiosyncratic responses to others guide our personal preferences and aversions to other people, just as do the subjective aesthetics of whom we find attractive—or not.
