Frank T. McAndrew, Ph.D.
Social Psychologist & Essayist
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 recognized as a classic text in the history of that discipline, and he is currently editing the Handbook of Evolutionary Social Psychology for De Gruyter Publishing.
​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 at the Vaudeville Theatre 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 media outlets such as 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 been shared on Twitter by journalists such as Arianna Huffington and lampooned on television by comedians Jay Leno & Conan O'Brien.
McAndrew is an elected Fellow of:
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 for a TV Documentary coming soon
A radio interview about Gossip from NPR's Innovation Hub program
Comedian Conan O'Brien Spoofs McAndrew's Creepiness Research
A WGIL (Galesburg) Radio interview about Our Obsession with Celebrity
NBC Today Show story about McAndrew's creepiness research
NPR's Academic Minute: Why High School Never Ends
A Fox News TV interview about Mass Shootings
A WQAD TV News (Quad Cities Illinois/Iowa)
interview about creepiness
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
Career Paths in Psychology
A WMUR TV News (Manchester, New Hampshire)
interview about creepiness
Gossip - Interview on the Australian Broadcasting Company national program 'Life Matters'.
A podcast about the political psychology of the United States in 2024.
Coulrophobia (Why Clowns are Scary) - Varied Voices Podcast
A BYU Radio interview on why losing a dog is so hard
A radio interview about gossip on the BBC Program 'Crowd Science'
An Irish National Radio interview on the art of small talk
A Scripps News TV (Newsy) interview on mass shooters
A New Zealand TV interview on creepiness
A WBUR Radio (NPR, Boston) interview on creepy clowns
A radio interview on gossip on the BBC Program 'The Why Factor'
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)
CBS TV News Chicago story on gossip
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'.
Inside McKamey Manor Podcast (Horror)
Heat and Violence
The Creepiness of Clowns
Australian Broadcasting Company, Perth
Bridgerton: Corset-Ripping Science on the Small Screen Science Podcast
NPR's Academic Minute: Is Heroism a 'Guy Thing'?
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
NBC Today Show animated description of McAndrew's
creepiness research
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)
Gossip (NPR, Philadelphia, PA)
What Makes Someone Seem Creepy? - Kathy Lee & Hoda on NBC's Today Show
A wide-ranging conversation about evolutionary psychology
A trailer from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) radio documentary about gossip scandals in professional hockey
CTV (Canada) National TV interview on fascination with celebrities
A TV series hosted by McAndrew that never quite made it onto the air