Frank McAndrew

Meet Professor McAndrew

Years at Knox: 1979 to present

To the extent that there is a common theme tying my research together, it is that I study human social behavior from an evolutionary perspective. I am especially interested in understanding the psychology of everyday life. Why do we enjoy gossip about celebrities? Why do some people name their children after themselves while others do not? 

My current research projects are concerned with aggression, gossip, and creepiness, and I write a blog for Psychology Today Magazine titled "Out of the Ooze: Navigating the 21st Century with a Stone-Age Mind." I am also interested in environmental psychology, which is the study of the relationship between people and their physical environments, both natural and human-made. I have written a successful textbook in this area, Environmental Psychology, that has been translated into Chinese."

Education

Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, 1981, University of Maine.

B.S., Psychology, 1974, King's College.

Teaching Interests

Introductory psychology, social psychology, industrial psychology, organizational behavior, statistics, evolution and human behavior, environmental psychology, history and systems of psychology.

Full Curriculum Vitae - (PDF)
Professional Web Page

Selected Professional Accomplishments

Professional Recognition

Profiles of McAndrew's research have been featured in over 2,000 popular print and internet outlets.  His research has also been featured in several documentary films and more than 100 radio and television appearances including: FOX News, ABC, CBS, & FOX TV affiliates nationwide, Radio Health Journal,  "The Why Factor' (BBC)" WGN (Chicago), Morning Edition (NPR), The Academic Minute (NPR),  WBBM TV (CBS - Chicago), ITV (London), Innovation Hub (NPR), The Wall Street Journal, Salon, Brut Media, CNN, CTV News Channel (Canadian TV), NBC's Today Show, attn:, and PBS Newshour. His research has even been lampooned by Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien on their late night talk shows.

Honors/Grants

• Fellow: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• Who's Who in Science and Engineering
• Who's Who in American Education
• Who's Who in America
• Who's Who in the World
• University of Maine Fellow
• Charter Fellow, Midwestern Psychological Association
• Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
• Fellow, Society of Experimental Social psychology
• Invited to be Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Environmental Psychology (2016)
• Knox Faculty Exceptional Achievement Award, 1999, 2009, 2013, 2019
• "Named "Outstanding Reviewer" by the Journal of Environmental Psychology," 2015
• Identified as one of the "key individuals" in the history of environmental psychology by a survey of over 300 researchers in the field, 2005
• Nominee, CASE Professor of the Year, 2005
• Caterpillar Faculty Achievement Award, 2003
• Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching, 1983, 2000
• The Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award
• Knox Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Grant - Collaborative Research Grant: International Collaboration In Evolutionary Psychology at Vrije University in Amsterdam, 2016-2017.

Publications

"The namesaking of children as a strategy for managing kin relations and bonding fathers to their children." Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences (2021 - In Press).

"There's no place like home for the holidays––and that's what makes the pandemic's winter surge particularly devastating." The Conversation, 2020: December 10. (This article also appeared in Business Mirror and more than a dozen American newspapers.)

"Environmental Psychology." Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C: Wu-Nan Book Inc. (ISBN: 9780534193089) (2020)

"Why you underestimate how much other people like you." The Minds Journal, September 24, 2020. 

"The psychology, geography, and architecture of horror." In G. Yeşildağ (Ed.), Architecture of Fear. Istanbul: Ondokuzonbir Press. 
(IN PRESS)

"How the God Your Worship Influences the Ghosts You See." Next Truth Magazine, (2020): August 1.

"Reading faces: Why we sometimes get it wrong." Art in Real Life, (2020): June 3.

“Why Caring About Celebrities Can Be Good for You.” In Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints: Celebrity Culture. Plymouth, MA: Greenhaven Publishing. (IN PRESS)

“The Psychology, Geography, and Architecture of Horror: How Places Creep Us Out.” Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 4, (2020): 47-61.

“How Stories about Haunted Houses Become Self-Perpetuating.” Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture Blog. Boston: Academic Studies Press, October 29, 2019.

“Why We Love Big, Blood-Curdling Screams.” Appeared in dozens of popular media outlets, including The Conversation, Time Magazine, Discover Magazine, LiveScience, Medical Xpress, & The Big Think, 2019.

“Houses of Horror.” Aeon Magazine, October 21, 2019.

“Why Old People Hate New Music.” Appeared in dozens of popular media outlets, including Quartz, The Conversation, ActivelyLearn.com, Der Freitag, & Psychology Today. September, 2019.

“The Best Days of Our Lives?” An essay about high school that was included in the program for Groan Ups, which opened in London’s Vaudeville Theatre on September 20, 2019.

“Politicians Don’t Seem to Laugh at Themselves as much Anymore.” Appeared in dozens of popular media outlets, including The Conversation, Intellectual Takeout, Wall Street Window, & The Utica College Center of Public Affairs and Election Research. August, 2019.

“Could a Lack of Intellectual Humility be at the Root of What Ails America?” Appeared in dozens of popular media outlets, including The Conversation, Government Executive, Garn Press, Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Salon, & The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). May, 2019.

"Gossip as a Social Skill." In F. Giardini & R. Wittek (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation, New York: Oxford University Press (2019, pp. 173-192).

"Does namesaking a child influence attachment style?" North American Journal of Psychology, 21, (2019): 39-44. Co-authored with Knox student Allie Bird, '18.

"Costly Signaling Theory". In T. Shackelford & V. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. New York: SpringerMeteor, 2018.

"Why we still fall for the 'Nigerian Prince Scam." This article appeared in more than a dozen news outlets, including Salon, Channel News Asia, The Conversation, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Houston Chronicle, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2018.

"War." In T. Shackelford & V. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. New York: SpringerMeteor, 2018.

"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. New York: Oxford University Press. (2017, pp. 191-205).

"Four Traits Men Unknowingly Seek in Women." Psychology Today Magazine, November/December Vol. 50 #6, pp. 42-43. Also appears in YourTango Magazine. (2017). 

"Why There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays." Published in many different media outlets, including The Conversation, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Mail, & LiveScience. (December, 2017).

"How the God You Worship Influences the Ghosts You See." Published in many different media outlets, including Quartz, The Raw Story, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, & The Conversation. (October, 2017).

"How the Ambience of a Restaurant Controls What You Eat and Drink." This article appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Conversation, The Associated Press, Hospitality Magazine and Psychology Today. (2017)

"Competition." In P. I. Joseph (Ed.), Sage Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives (pp. 367-368). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (2017).

"Getting Over Rover: Why Losing a Dog Can be Harder than Losing a Relative or Friend." Published in dozens of different media outlets, including Quartz, Business Insider, Psychology Today, The Observer, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation & Tonic (by Vice) 2017.

"When strangers start to gossip: Investigating the effects of gossip on cooperation in a Prisoner's Dilemma game." Coauthored with C. J. S. De Backer (University of Antwerp), C. Larson (UCLA), M. L. Fisher (St. Mary's University, Nova Scotia), & K. Rudnicki (University of Antwerp). Evolutionary Psychological Science 2, (2016): 266-277.

"The Perils of a Life in Isolation." Published by The Conversation, The Associated Press, and several other media outlets, November 11, 2016.

"The Psychology Behind Why Clowns Creep Us Out." The Daily Beast, September 29, 2016. This article also appeared in several other news outlets, including The Conversation, PBS NewsHour, CNN, The Daily Mail, Scientific American, Time, The Washington Post, Salon, The New Republic, Business Insider.

"Why you shouldn't want to be happy all of the time." Time Magazine, August 6, 2016. This appeared in more than a dozen other news outlets, including Salon.com, The Guardian, IFLScience, Business Insider, The Sydney Morning Herald, RawStory, CNN, Le Point, Slate, Quartz, & The Conversation.

"Why High School Stays With Us Forever." The Washington Post, June 6, 2016. Also appeared in several other news outlets including The Guardian, Business Insider, Salon,  & The Conversation.

"How Can We Better Understand the 'Office Creep'?" HRZone, Siftmedia, U.K. (June 6, 2016)

"Gossip in Your Workplace Probably Does More Good Than Harm." HRZone, Siftmedia, U. K. (June 10, 2016)

"On the Nature of Creepiness." Co-authored with Knox student Sara Koehnke, '12 New Ideas in Psychology, 43 (2016): 10-15.

"Heroic Rescue in Humans." In T. Shackelford & V. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. New York: SpringerMeteor (2016).

"Gossip is a Social Skill - Not a Character Flaw." The Conversation, January 20, 2016. This article also appeared in several other media outlets under different titles, including The New Republic and Time.

"Mail Order Brides." In T. Shackelford & V.Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. New York: SpringerMeteor (2016).

"The Experience of Competition in Same- Versus Mixed-Sex Team Sports." Co-authored with Knox student Joey Knutson, '14, Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 24, 7-13 (2016).

"The Truth About Happiness." In L. Gaetz (Ed.), Avenues 1 –English Skills (2nd edition), Montreal, Canada: Pearson-ERPI (2016): 31-33. 

"Workplace Gossip." In R. Griffin (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Management, New York: Oxford University Press (2016).

"The Surprising Factor that can Predict Your Life Span." Published in Psychology Today & YourTango Magazines (2016).

Environmental Psychology. New Delhi, India: Indo-American Books. (ISBN: 9382661328), 2015.

"If You Give a Man a Gun: The Evolutionary Psychology of Mass Shootings." The Conversation, December 4, 2015. This article appeared in more than a dozen other media outlets under different titles, including Newsweek, CNN, and The Huffington Post.

"Evolutionary Psychology Explains Why Haunted Houses Creep Us Out." The Conversation, October 29 (2015). This article appeared in more than a dozen other media outlets under different titles, including Time and Newsweek.

"What men endure to be men." A review of Jonathan Gottschall, The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight, and Why We Like to Watch. New York, Penguin Press. Evolutionary Psychology, September (2015): 1-2.

"On Civilizing the Unwashed masses." A review of Amy Alkon, Good Manners for Nice People who Sometimes Say F*CK." New York: St. Martin's Griffin.  Evolutionary Psychology, 12 (2014): 827-828.

"The 'Sword of a Woman:' Gossip and female aggression." Aggression and Violent Behavior 19 (2014): 196-199.

"Sex differences in jealousy over Facebook activity." Co-authored with Knox student Sahil Shah '12, Computers in Human Behavior, 29 (2013): 2603-2606.

"Is Self-Sacrificial Competitive Altruism Primarily a Male Activity?" Co-authored with Knox graduate Carin Perilloux '03 Evolutionary Psychology 10 (2012): 50-65.

"Who Does What on Facebook? Age, Sex, and Relationship Status as Predictors of Facebook Use." Co-authored with Knox Student Hye Sun Jeong '11, Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012): 2359-2365.

"The Selfish Hero: A Study of the Individual Benefits of Self-Sacrificial Prosocial Behavior." Co-authored with Knox graduate Carin Perilloux '03, Psychological Reports 111 (2012): 27-43.

Presentations

"Academic Careers in the Liberal Arts College." Annual presentation sponsored by the graduate school of the University of Missouri - Columbia as part of their Preparing Future Faculty program. Presentations were made each year from 2011 through 2020.

"The Effects of Race and Friendship Affiliation on Occupational Perceptions. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), New Orleans (2020, February). Co-authored with Knox student Khanh-Linh Duong, '20.

"Males’ alcohol consumption signals traits to female mates." Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), New Orleans (2020, February). Co-authored with Knox students Irein Thomas, '20, Meaghan Dorsey, '19, Kai Epstein, '19, Ivy Maina, '19, & Yvette Rodriguez, '19.

“GOSSIP: Is it a Social Skill – or a Character Flaw?” Invited talk at Western Illinois University Quad Cities Campus, November 14, 2019.

“Gossip in Work Organizations: A Double-Edged Sword?” Invited talk at the Business Psychology Graduate Program of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, September 28, 2019.

"Does namesaking a child influence attachment style?" Co-authored with Knox student Allie Bird, '18. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Portland, Oregon, 2019 (February).

"Creeped-Out: The Psychology of Creepiness and Horror." Invited lecture at Western Illinois University (Quad City campus), October, 2018.

"Academic Careers in Evolutionary Psychology at Teaching Focused Institutions." Symposium Chair and Presenter at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Boise, Idaho, 2017.

"Red Flag! Women are on their guard against a woman wearing red, especially if she is seeking a mate. Co-authored with Knox students Emily Corwin-Renner, '17, Stephanie Nguyen, '16, Danielle Zepeda, '17, Shashank Neelagiri, '17, & Madison Pierro, '17. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, Texas, 2017. 

"Creeped Out: Evolution, Psychology, & Creepiness." Invited talk to the Evolutionary Psychology Lab Group in the Department of Applied and Experimental Psychology at Vrije University (VU), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2016.

"The Evolutionary Psychology of Gossip" Invited lecture at the Department of Organization Sciences, Vrije University (VU), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2016.

"Alpha Male or Omega Male? Precarious Manhood and the Violence of Young Men." Invited Lecture & Workshop at the C. G. Jung Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico (September, 2016).

"Does hormonal birth control disrupt the assessment of mate quality through kissing?" Co-authored with Knox students Victoria Klimaj, '13, Zach Lawrence, '12, Joey Knutson, '14, & Elizabeth King, '13. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, 2016.

"The unavoidable awkwardness of family life. " Invited Lecture at The Peoria Riverfront Museum in conjunction with a photography exhibit of "Awkward Family Photos," Peoria, IL, 2015.

"Can 'Getting the Creeps' be an Evolutionary Adaptation?" Co-authored with Knox student Sara Koehnke, '12. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, Missouri, 2015.

"Helper or Helping? The Role of Subtle Linguistic Manipulation in Prosocial Behavior." Co-authored with Knox student Amelia Goranson, '14. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Long Beach,California, 2015.

Invited speaker, Interpersonal Relationships Lab, Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, 2014.

"The Evolution of Human Environmental Preferences." Guest lecture to the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) program on "Ecology and Human Origins," Tanzania, 2014.

"Sex differences in jealousy over Facebook activity" co-authored with Knox student Sahil Shah '12. Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Austin, Texas, 2014.

Featured speaker at Carl Sandburg College's "Lunch with a Scholar" program, Galesburg, Illinois, 2013.

"Gossip and the Management of Reputation." Workshop sponsored by the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) at the Lorentz Center, Leiden, Netherlands, 2013.

"Does hormonal birth control disrupt the assessment of mate quality through kissing?" Co-authored with Knox students Victoria Klimaj '13, Zach Lawrence '12, Joey Knutson '14, Liz King '13, and Danny Schaefer '13. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Miami, Florida, 2013.

"Does self-monitoring predict interest in gossip?" Co-authored with Knox student Amelia Goranson '14. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Miami, Florida, 2013.

"Creepiness." Co-authored with Knox student Sara Koehnke '12. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, 2013.

"The Evolutionary Psychology of Facebook: mate seeking, status signaling, and the maintenance of kinship networks." Co-authored with former Knox student Hye Sun Jeong '11, presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2012.

Campus & Community Involvement

• Faculty Personnel Committee
• Chair, Knox College Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Faculty Tutorial Director, Ronald E. McNair Program
• Head Wrestling Coach, Knox College; Assistant Coach
• Interim Associate Dean, Knox College
• Chair, Psychology Department
• Founder & Chair, Knox College Environmental Studies Program
• Consultant, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Florida Department of Community Affairs on the causes and consequences of population growth and development in the Florida Keys
• Visiting Professor, University of Pretoria and University of the Western Cape, South Africa
• Member, Editorial Review Board, Environment and Behavior  
• Member, Editorial Review Board, The Journal of Mind and Behavior
• Member, Editorial Review Board, The Journal of Environmental Psychology
• Member, Editorial Review Board, Journal of Social Psychology
• Guest Editor, Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences