Francis T. McAndrew Ph.D.
Social Psychologist
Frank McAndrew is the Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox College where he twice received the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching as well as the Caterpillar Faculty Achievement Award. In 2005, he was nominated for the prestigious CASE U.S. Professor of the Year Award.
McAndrew's book on Environmental Psychology has been translated into several languages and is regarded as a classic text in the history of that discipline.
​Professor McAndrew is also well-known as a purveyor of psychological science to lay audiences. His blog at Psychology Today Magazine and his other op-ed articles have attracted over twenty-five million readers, and one of his essays even appeared in the playbill of a play performed on London's West End.
Frank is a frequent guest on podcasts and TV & Radio talk shows, and he has lectured widely throughout the United States and in countries ranging alphabetically from Denmark to Tanzania. His research has been profiled in more than 1,000 media outlets including Time, The New Yorker, PBS NewsHour, NPR, FOX News, the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
On April 9, 2016, Frank's creepiness research was featured as the "trending topic of the day" on NBC's Today Show, and his research on gossip was similarly highlighted by this same program in 2007. His work has also been lampooned on television by comedians Jay Leno & Conan O'Brien.
McAndrew is an Elected Fellow of these Professional Societies:
The Association for Psychological Science
The Society for Personality and Social Psychology
SELECTED TV, RADIO, & PODCAST CLIPS
(Click on the image to see or hear the episode)
Video about the Creepiness of Clowns from Brut Media (France)
America's Abortion Fetish: Trailer from a TV Documentary
A radio interview about Gossip from NPR's Innovation Hub program
Comedian Conan O'Brien Spoofs McAndrew's Creepiness Research
Celebrity Gossip & Social Media - The Internet Friends Podcast (June 11, 2025)
A WGIL (Galesburg) Radio interview about Our Obsession with Celebrity
A WQAD TV News (Quad Cities Illinois/Iowa)
interview about creepiness
NPR's Academic Minute: Why Do Old People Hate New Music?
A Fox News TV interview about Mass Shootings
A WSBT TV News (South Bend, Indiana) interview about creepiness
The Real Dirt on Gossip: A trailer from the CBC
(Canadian Broadcasting Corp) program 'Doc Zone'.
What's Your Story? (USA/Canada) - Time After the Internet
A Scripps News TV (Newsy) interview on mass shooters
A WMUR TV News (Manchester, New Hampshire)
interview about creepiness
An Irish National Radio interview on the art of small talk
A radio interview on gossip on the BBC Program 'The Why Factor'
NBC Today Show story about McAndrew's creepiness research
Career Paths in Psychology
A podcast about the political psychology of the United States in 2024.
A BYU Radio interview on why losing a dog is so hard
A radio interview about gossip on the BBC Program 'Crowd Science'
NPR's Academic Minute: Why High School Never Ends
An appearance on Groovy Gavin's YouTube Channel to discuss the killer clown scare of 2016 (Video created in 2025)
Gossip - Interview on the Australian Broadcasting Company national program 'Life Matters'.
A New Zealand TV interview on creepiness
CBS TV News Chicago story on gossip
A WBUR Radio (NPR, Boston) interview on creepy clowns
Coulrophobia (Why Clowns are Scary) - Varied Voices Podcast
Shot & Chaser Podcast (on Spotify) on Why We Love Celebrity Gossip
A WOSU Radio (NPR, Columbus, Ohio) interview on creepy clowns
An attn/Facebook video on gossip
Why Tuesday is the most Boring Day of the Week (BYU Radio)
Illinois Public Radio (NPR) interview on the 'Science of Love'
Psych Up Live with Dr. Suzanne Phillips (a Voice America Radio Podcast)
on Why We Fall for Conspiracy Theories
Shot & Chaser Podcast (on Spotify) on Why Our
Teen-Age Memories are so Vivid
NPR's Academic Minute: Why do Some People See Ghosts?
NPR's Morning Edition on Gossip
The Real Dirt on Gossip: A Facebook trailer from the CBC
(Canadian Broadcasting Corp) program 'Doc Zone'.
Heat and Violence
The Creepiness of Clowns
Australian Broadcasting Company, Perth
Bridgerton: Corset-Ripping Science on the Small Screen Science Podcast
A WGIL Radio interview (Galesburg) on why we love creepy things
In Your Right Mind Podcast - KABC Radio - Los Angeles
What creates a mass shooter?
The Creepiness of Clowns
(Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University)
Gossip: Connecticut Public Radio (NPR)
What is Creepiness? (Podcast - New Zealand)
Why Old People Hate New Music (Spotify)
The Roundtable: Gun Reform & Mass Shootings
Psych Up Live with Dr. Suzanne Phillips
(a Voice America Radio Podcast)
Why Losing a Dog Hurts So Much
Why Clowns Creep Us Out (Northern Minnesota Public Radio (NPR))
​
The Unlatched Mind Podcast with Vinny Vallarine
Personal Likeability & a Wide Range of Other Topics
Illinois Public Radio (NPR) interview on
Transient Global Amnesia (TGA)
Why Clowns Creep Us Out (Los Angeles)
NBC Today Show animated description of McAndrew's
creepiness research
How Creepy Are You?
NPR's Academic Minute: Is Heroism a 'Guy Thing'?
Gossip as a Social Skill
Why We Love Zombies
Gossip (NPR, Philadelphia, PA)
The Psychology of getting creeped out - NPR, Wisconsin Public Radio
A wide-ranging conversation about evolutionary psychology
Inside McKamey Manor Podcast (Horror)
CTV (Canada) National TV interview on fascination with celebrities
Why losing a dog is so hard (video from The Conversation)
A TV series hosted by McAndrew that never quite made it onto the air
An AI-generated podcast about Parental Investment Decisions
What Makes Someone Seem Creepy? - Kathy Lee & Hoda on NBC's Today Show
