Vanessa Van EdwardsScience of People, Science Of People · Behavioral Researcher, Founder, Author, Harvard Instructor

The #1 Non-Verbal Pet Peeve (6,000 People Voted)

4 Mar 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:55

In this short video, Vanessa Van Edwards shares the results of a poll of 6,000 respondents about their biggest non‑verbal pet peeve. The top complaint, with about 1,900 votes, is people standing too close. Vanessa uses the finding as a springboard to remind viewers to avoid common non‑verbal annoyances and to understand proxemics – the personal‑space zones that govern comfortable distance. She notes that these zones differ across cultures, urging the audience to be aware of where others stand and to respect cultural variations in personal space.

Chapters

We asked in a recent poll, what is your biggest nonverbal pet peeve? What is your biggest nonverbal pet peeve? Is it A, too much eye contact? B, a bad handshake? C, standing too close? D, touching too much? E, not making eye contact? Oh my gosh, I forgot F, a bad hug, a bad side hug. The worst. Here was the answers to this poll. We had 6,000 people take this poll, which is a lovely number. People who stand too close was number 1. This is a reminder. One, please do not do any of these nonverbal pet peeves. Little reminder. But second, our proxemics, our space zones. Make sure you know your zones of space and do not stand too close. This is a little bit culturally different. It varies culture to culture. So pay attention to where people are standing. That is the number 1. 1,900 people said that was their biggest pet peeve. Don't do these.