15 ms·

Research reveals why some find the sound of others eating so irritating

53 points by daegloe 5y ago

distantaidenn 5y ago
Then there are those of us who experience ASMR and find the sound quite relaxing.
- meowface 5y ago
  I experience ASMR and enjoy some ASMR sounds, but I absolutely can't stand chewing sounds.
phenkdo 5y ago
Is this similar to the misophonia over nails over a chalkboard?
- lupire 5y ago
  Nails on chalkboard us supposedly a supernormal stimulus version of hearing a baby shriek.
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Interesting notion, but it seems suspicious to me. I live in a place where when windy the trees make all sorts of loud squeaky noises. I glory in it. But nails on a chalkboard and forks on a plate, even when distant, give me jolts that even a baby shrieking near me doesn't.
  - phenkdo 5y ago
    Interesting, I heard another theory that it was due to some flying predator during our cave-people days that was our deadliest threat, and evolution baked-in that threat-sense into humans.
leemcd56 5y ago
I am one of those people. Not only can I not stand hearing people chew their food, I get irritated hearing people swallow.
- eplanit 5y ago
  Me too. I always thought it was because throughout childhood my seat at the table was next to my noisily eating stepfather. Actually, that would have desensitized me, I guess. I don't even like hearing myself eat... there must always be tv or music playing. Restaurants are different though. For one, many of them understand how to maintain low level ambient noise; plus, in a restaurant there's usually a din of conversation, and in that setting I'm there to socialize as much as eat.
- eptcyka 5y ago
  I definitely hate the sound of people eating, but I also can't stand people idley whistling or humming. And I can not stand the muffled sound of a conversation, especially if it's someone I know, somewhat similarly to how one gets annoyed if they can't hear the other side of a conversation. As such, working from home has been more challenging than I expected. And it's terrible, I hate these noises, and I'm fine with that, but not hating the people is really hard. This is a problem that only really should affect me, but it's very hard to not get upset.
- lyjackal 5y ago
  Same. Also the heavy breathing that the article mentions. When I was a kid and around a noisy eater, I would also start eating noisily. I rationalized the behavior as a mechanism to cover up the sounds of their eating, but the explanation in the article makes a lot of sense. I would try to synchronize my eating somewhat with theirs to cover the sound up better.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
goodells 5y ago
This is an interesting insight, but I don't think it's even close to telling the whole story of the pathophysiology of misophonia. The researchers seem to focus mainly on the mouth and throat sounds that bother many people. It's probably the most relatable disgusting kind of sound that a lot of neurotypical people can sympathize with hating too. But newer research (like that from Dr. Zach Rosenthal and CMER at Duke [1]) is showing that the root of misophonia has something to do with trained aversive reactions, and that meshes a lot better with my own experience. It's very common for people with misophonia to develop more triggers over the course of their lives such as footsteps, doors closing, car engines, etc., and even for associated visual stimuli to cause similar triggers. [1] - https://www.misophonia.duke.edu/content/research-overview https://www.misophonia.duke.edu/content/research-overview
- me_me_me 5y ago
  In my 20s I would shake internally when I was eating at the table with someone chewing with open mouth. Sometimes I would just walk away from the table to stop hearing them. Actually now that I am reflecting on that I am hearing this sound in my head and I am getting a bit annoyed. But through reflection on the nature of it, and focusing on anything but that sound, I learnt to cope with it. I am sure going to hear it and it will be annoying but i am not bother more then that.
  - codyb 5y ago
    I wonder if that’s why older people tend to score higher on life satisfaction scores? When you’re young, you’re full of emotion towards the world and as you age you either abandon the desires or learn coping strategies. Eventually you’ve abandoned enough desires ranging from the “holy shit! I wish BOB WOULD STOP CHEWING LIKE THAT!” rage to the “I’ve gotta work hard to make something of myself!” that you can actually just sit back and enjoy a day.
    - me_me_me 5y ago
      There are plenty of older people that rage and throw fits, I's say it depends on personal growth and perspective, not age (though both comes with time as we get more experiences). Sadly some people never look back or inward and never grow beyond their basic instincts.
slver 5y ago
> Scans show some brains have a stronger link between the part that processes sound and that which controls the mouth and throat Aight well that's a completely wrong reason... Can we just say out loud many (not all, but many) of those university studies are done so someone can put out a paper and they're not even trying. It's disappointing me in the entire process and method of science when our media are flooded with nonsense like this.
- carlmr 5y ago
  What makes you say it's wrong?
  - slver 5y ago
    The article says this explores mysophobia which covers a wide variety of sounds, like fork on plate, nails on chalkboard, ASMR sounds of all kinds of nature (not related to eating sounds) and also eating sounds, but also any similar sounds produced when playing with sticky gooey substances and so on (which our saliva is an example of). To suggest all of this is because I struggle not to move my mouth and throat and feel "intruded upon" is honestly bizarre. Their study only attempts to satisfy their own VERY SELECTIVE definition of mysophobia without attempting to explain how this "hyper-mirroring" explains the same exact effect non-eating mysophobic sounds cause. All in all, someone writing a quick paper is all.
    - wpietri 5y ago
      Something being "honestly bizarre" to one reader is not a valid critique of a scientific paper. Many validated scientific concepts were seen as bizarre when introduced; many invalidated ones seemed broadly reasonable. (E.g., relativity and luminiferous aether respectively). If you'd gotten as far as reading the abstract of the paper, you'd see that they focus on this because "most trigger sounds are generated by orofacial movements". Assuming they're correct, it seems reasonable to me to start with the dominant case. If you'd like claim they're wrong about what constitutes misophonia you're welcome to do it; I look forward to your evidence. But as somebody who can't stand fork-on-plate and nails-on-chalkboard sounds, this all sounds pretty plausible to me. I experience those as a jolt that includes my dominant hand and arm. So it seems to me that they could be on to something. They may not have all the details right; early scientific papers often don't. But I don't think that's a reason to claim that you can read their minds from this remove.
Anktionaer 5y ago
Can I just say that I genuinely hate the kind of people who complain about the sounds of other people going about their normal life? Chewing is absolutely normal and I don't enjoy hearing it either but I would never actually go up to someone and tell them to stop chewing so loudly. It's just a ridiculous complaint.
- mtsr 5y ago
  You do realize that some people suffer from a real psychological disorder called misophonia, right? I’m not saying everyone does, but it’s something to be aware of before you judge people.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- literallyWTF 5y ago
  It’s almost as if you quite literally didn’t even bother reading the article :|
  - tokai 5y ago
    Its like you didn't read the guidelines.
  - Anktionaer 5y ago
    I did actually read it but I noticed that a lot of the comments were complaining of the sound and I also have a sibling who is really irritating about this. ^^ I fully understand that some people have misophonia and I can't blame them for complaining.
- crmd 5y ago
  You’re raising an interesting question about to what extent it’s okay for a person to expect other people accommodate their mental illness.
  - 5y ago
TheCapn 5y ago
Strap me in and scan my brain. The sound that infuriates me is the glug glug sound of a cup being filled with liquid. You know that pouring sound that gets to a higher pitch as the container fills up? oof I hate that sound and it makes me shake and clench. Its used so much in TV/movies to fake them pouring a drink or mixing a cocktail or some shit, pulls me right out of the media. Chewing though? Nah, its annoying, but like... "oh wow, that's rude" type reaction, not an anger feeling like the pouring sound. What part of my brain is supposedly too connected to the audio sensory?
- wpietri 5y ago
  Interesting! I love that sound and have two motor associations with it. One is definitely in my throat, the motions I'd make if I were mimicking the sound. The other is in my hands, pouring with the left into something held in my right. So next time you hear it, you might see if you experience similar motor associations. That would fit with this study.
  - TheCapn 5y ago
    For me its like a clench at the back of the throat and an emotional response (anger/discomfort)
- secondcoming 5y ago
  I can't handle hearing someones drink as it goes down their throat; not just large glugging but even little sips. I actually physically clench up and sometimes have to leave the room. It's my experience that women tend to be the worst offenders.
  - FindMySocks 5y ago
    I am infuriated by people who take little sips of a drink. The intense sucking around (primarily a hot tea or other hot liquid) but that pursed lip sucking sound destroys my will to live (and in a way that wants me to take everyone with me.)
- everdrive 5y ago
cletus 5y ago
Is there a brain defect that causes some to think that slurping of any kind or eating with your mouth open near anyone else is in any way socially acceptable? I wouldn’t say I suffer from the thing in this article but at the same time, I don’t want people to eat like a wood chipper either. Where does that put me?
- yetihehe 5y ago
  It's called "not caring about others".
10x-dev 5y ago
It's the open mouth chewing sound that causes me to get angry and violent really fast. To share my experience, I couldn't control it well when I was young. In my 20s I figured it was better for me to look rude and leave the table, than to start yet another discussion on this topic by suddenly asking the person to chew with their mouth closed, which makes me look rude anyway. In my thirties I learnt how to tolerate small instances of open mouth chewing, such as those that some people do when tasting new foods or drinks (it reminds me of birds drinking water), mostly because the sound is temporary. Otherwise, I am better at practicing mindfulness long enough to be able to excuse myself politely. I know why people chew with their mouths open. It's the air and the taste. It doesn't help with the strong reaction it causes in my brain. I go from liking you to want to stab you in 3 seconds. Since this is the Internet, I'd like to clarify that I have never gotten into a fight and am an average, non violent person. I used to have a mild reaction to closed mouth chewing and throat sounds, but I've been able to tolerate those better and now they don't bother me much. If I could go back in time, I would try to teach younger me how to handle these sounds in a more socially acceptable way. If you chew with your mouth open, please don't take someone else's strong reaction too personal. It's hard to contain the sudden burst of anger.
- StavrosK 5y ago
  I'm the same, and I have a friend who loudly smacks his lips when eating, it's insufferable. To make matters worse, whenever we meet it's usually over some kind of meal, so I am at a loss for what to do.
  - goldenkey 5y ago
    The longer you wait, the more of an ability they have to come back with some riposte about how long you've been bottling it up. Just confront them, and laugh it off nonchalantly if they try to reason their way out of the clearly foul habit.
    - StavrosK 5y ago
      I tried that but they took it as a joke :/ Now they'll sometimes make fun of me (in a good-natured way) about hating chewing sounds, and to complain about it "formally" would be too serious/offputting.
everdrive 5y ago
Interestingly, "Earthling Cinema," (later rebranded "Alien's Guide") has a running gag where they show clips from movies, and sensor any frames which show someone eating food. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu6DDGoV21YhwSb5iWbriAw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu6DDGoV21YhwSb5iWbriAw It's always been my least favorite way for a film-maker to lazily show that someone is evil. Perhaps the worst example would be King Théoden in the Two Towers. It's an extreme closeup, which holds for a while, of Théoden eating in the most gross manner possible. It's as disgusting as it is ham-fisted. A modern equivalent to mustache-twirling, perhaps. [edit] It turns out that I meant "Denethor II, the Steward of Gondor" and not "King Théoden."
- sidpatil 5y ago
  > Perhaps the worst example would be King Théoden in the Two Towers. It's an extreme closeup, which holds for a while, of Théoden eating in the most gross manner possible. You mean Denethor II, the Steward of Gondor.

53 points by daegloe 5y ago

distantaidenn 5y ago

Then there are those of us who experience ASMR and find the sound quite relaxing.

meowface 5y ago
I experience ASMR and enjoy some ASMR sounds, but I absolutely can't stand chewing sounds.

phenkdo 5y ago

Is this similar to the misophonia over nails over a chalkboard?

lupire 5y ago
Nails on chalkboard us supposedly a supernormal stimulus version of hearing a baby shriek.
- wpietri 5y ago
  Interesting notion, but it seems suspicious to me. I live in a place where when windy the trees make all sorts of loud squeaky noises. I glory in it. But nails on a chalkboard and forks on a plate, even when distant, give me jolts that even a baby shrieking near me doesn't.
- phenkdo 5y ago
  Interesting, I heard another theory that it was due to some flying predator during our cave-people days that was our deadliest threat, and evolution baked-in that threat-sense into humans.

leemcd56 5y ago

I am one of those people. Not only can I not stand hearing people chew their food, I get irritated hearing people swallow.

eplanit 5y ago
Me too. I always thought it was because throughout childhood my seat at the table was next to my noisily eating stepfather. Actually, that would have desensitized me, I guess. I don't even like hearing myself eat... there must always be tv or music playing. Restaurants are different though. For one, many of them understand how to maintain low level ambient noise; plus, in a restaurant there's usually a din of conversation, and in that setting I'm there to socialize as much as eat.
eptcyka 5y ago
I definitely hate the sound of people eating, but I also can't stand people idley whistling or humming. And I can not stand the muffled sound of a conversation, especially if it's someone I know, somewhat similarly to how one gets annoyed if they can't hear the other side of a conversation. As such, working from home has been more challenging than I expected. And it's terrible, I hate these noises, and I'm fine with that, but not hating the people is really hard. This is a problem that only really should affect me, but it's very hard to not get upset.
lyjackal 5y ago
Same. Also the heavy breathing that the article mentions. When I was a kid and around a noisy eater, I would also start eating noisily. I rationalized the behavior as a mechanism to cover up the sounds of their eating, but the explanation in the article makes a lot of sense. I would try to synchronize my eating somewhat with theirs to cover the sound up better.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

goodells 5y ago

This is an interesting insight, but I don't think it's even close to telling the whole story of the pathophysiology of misophonia. The researchers seem to focus mainly on the mouth and throat sounds that bother many people. It's probably the most relatable disgusting kind of sound that a lot of neurotypical people can sympathize with hating too. But newer research (like that from Dr. Zach Rosenthal and CMER at Duke [1]) is showing that the root of misophonia has something to do with trained aversive reactions, and that meshes a lot better with my own experience. It's very common for people with misophonia to develop more triggers over the course of their lives such as footsteps, doors closing, car engines, etc., and even for associated visual stimuli to cause similar triggers. [1] - https://www.misophonia.duke.edu/content/research-overview https://www.misophonia.duke.edu/content/research-overview

me_me_me 5y ago
In my 20s I would shake internally when I was eating at the table with someone chewing with open mouth. Sometimes I would just walk away from the table to stop hearing them. Actually now that I am reflecting on that I am hearing this sound in my head and I am getting a bit annoyed. But through reflection on the nature of it, and focusing on anything but that sound, I learnt to cope with it. I am sure going to hear it and it will be annoying but i am not bother more then that.
- codyb 5y ago
  I wonder if that’s why older people tend to score higher on life satisfaction scores? When you’re young, you’re full of emotion towards the world and as you age you either abandon the desires or learn coping strategies. Eventually you’ve abandoned enough desires ranging from the “holy shit! I wish BOB WOULD STOP CHEWING LIKE THAT!” rage to the “I’ve gotta work hard to make something of myself!” that you can actually just sit back and enjoy a day.
  - me_me_me 5y ago
    There are plenty of older people that rage and throw fits, I's say it depends on personal growth and perspective, not age (though both comes with time as we get more experiences). Sadly some people never look back or inward and never grow beyond their basic instincts.

slver 5y ago

> Scans show some brains have a stronger link between the part that processes sound and that which controls the mouth and throat Aight well that's a completely wrong reason... Can we just say out loud many (not all, but many) of those university studies are done so someone can put out a paper and they're not even trying. It's disappointing me in the entire process and method of science when our media are flooded with nonsense like this.

carlmr 5y ago
What makes you say it's wrong?
- slver 5y ago
  The article says this explores mysophobia which covers a wide variety of sounds, like fork on plate, nails on chalkboard, ASMR sounds of all kinds of nature (not related to eating sounds) and also eating sounds, but also any similar sounds produced when playing with sticky gooey substances and so on (which our saliva is an example of). To suggest all of this is because I struggle not to move my mouth and throat and feel "intruded upon" is honestly bizarre. Their study only attempts to satisfy their own VERY SELECTIVE definition of mysophobia without attempting to explain how this "hyper-mirroring" explains the same exact effect non-eating mysophobic sounds cause. All in all, someone writing a quick paper is all.
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Something being "honestly bizarre" to one reader is not a valid critique of a scientific paper. Many validated scientific concepts were seen as bizarre when introduced; many invalidated ones seemed broadly reasonable. (E.g., relativity and luminiferous aether respectively). If you'd gotten as far as reading the abstract of the paper, you'd see that they focus on this because "most trigger sounds are generated by orofacial movements". Assuming they're correct, it seems reasonable to me to start with the dominant case. If you'd like claim they're wrong about what constitutes misophonia you're welcome to do it; I look forward to your evidence. But as somebody who can't stand fork-on-plate and nails-on-chalkboard sounds, this all sounds pretty plausible to me. I experience those as a jolt that includes my dominant hand and arm. So it seems to me that they could be on to something. They may not have all the details right; early scientific papers often don't. But I don't think that's a reason to claim that you can read their minds from this remove.

Anktionaer 5y ago

Can I just say that I genuinely hate the kind of people who complain about the sounds of other people going about their normal life? Chewing is absolutely normal and I don't enjoy hearing it either but I would never actually go up to someone and tell them to stop chewing so loudly. It's just a ridiculous complaint.

mtsr 5y ago
You do realize that some people suffer from a real psychological disorder called misophonia, right? I’m not saying everyone does, but it’s something to be aware of before you judge people.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
literallyWTF 5y ago
It’s almost as if you quite literally didn’t even bother reading the article :|
- tokai 5y ago
  Its like you didn't read the guidelines.
- Anktionaer 5y ago
  I did actually read it but I noticed that a lot of the comments were complaining of the sound and I also have a sibling who is really irritating about this. ^^ I fully understand that some people have misophonia and I can't blame them for complaining.
crmd 5y ago
You’re raising an interesting question about to what extent it’s okay for a person to expect other people accommodate their mental illness.
- 5y ago

TheCapn 5y ago

Strap me in and scan my brain. The sound that infuriates me is the glug glug sound of a cup being filled with liquid. You know that pouring sound that gets to a higher pitch as the container fills up? oof I hate that sound and it makes me shake and clench. Its used so much in TV/movies to fake them pouring a drink or mixing a cocktail or some shit, pulls me right out of the media. Chewing though? Nah, its annoying, but like... "oh wow, that's rude" type reaction, not an anger feeling like the pouring sound. What part of my brain is supposedly too connected to the audio sensory?

wpietri 5y ago
Interesting! I love that sound and have two motor associations with it. One is definitely in my throat, the motions I'd make if I were mimicking the sound. The other is in my hands, pouring with the left into something held in my right. So next time you hear it, you might see if you experience similar motor associations. That would fit with this study.
- TheCapn 5y ago
  For me its like a clench at the back of the throat and an emotional response (anger/discomfort)
secondcoming 5y ago
I can't handle hearing someones drink as it goes down their throat; not just large glugging but even little sips. I actually physically clench up and sometimes have to leave the room. It's my experience that women tend to be the worst offenders.
- FindMySocks 5y ago
  I am infuriated by people who take little sips of a drink. The intense sucking around (primarily a hot tea or other hot liquid) but that pursed lip sucking sound destroys my will to live (and in a way that wants me to take everyone with me.)
everdrive 5y ago

cletus 5y ago

Is there a brain defect that causes some to think that slurping of any kind or eating with your mouth open near anyone else is in any way socially acceptable? I wouldn’t say I suffer from the thing in this article but at the same time, I don’t want people to eat like a wood chipper either. Where does that put me?

yetihehe 5y ago
It's called "not caring about others".

10x-dev 5y ago

It's the open mouth chewing sound that causes me to get angry and violent really fast. To share my experience, I couldn't control it well when I was young. In my 20s I figured it was better for me to look rude and leave the table, than to start yet another discussion on this topic by suddenly asking the person to chew with their mouth closed, which makes me look rude anyway. In my thirties I learnt how to tolerate small instances of open mouth chewing, such as those that some people do when tasting new foods or drinks (it reminds me of birds drinking water), mostly because the sound is temporary. Otherwise, I am better at practicing mindfulness long enough to be able to excuse myself politely. I know why people chew with their mouths open. It's the air and the taste. It doesn't help with the strong reaction it causes in my brain. I go from liking you to want to stab you in 3 seconds. Since this is the Internet, I'd like to clarify that I have never gotten into a fight and am an average, non violent person. I used to have a mild reaction to closed mouth chewing and throat sounds, but I've been able to tolerate those better and now they don't bother me much. If I could go back in time, I would try to teach younger me how to handle these sounds in a more socially acceptable way. If you chew with your mouth open, please don't take someone else's strong reaction too personal. It's hard to contain the sudden burst of anger.

StavrosK 5y ago
I'm the same, and I have a friend who loudly smacks his lips when eating, it's insufferable. To make matters worse, whenever we meet it's usually over some kind of meal, so I am at a loss for what to do.
- goldenkey 5y ago
  The longer you wait, the more of an ability they have to come back with some riposte about how long you've been bottling it up. Just confront them, and laugh it off nonchalantly if they try to reason their way out of the clearly foul habit.
  - StavrosK 5y ago
    I tried that but they took it as a joke :/ Now they'll sometimes make fun of me (in a good-natured way) about hating chewing sounds, and to complain about it "formally" would be too serious/offputting.

everdrive 5y ago

Interestingly, "Earthling Cinema," (later rebranded "Alien's Guide") has a running gag where they show clips from movies, and sensor any frames which show someone eating food. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu6DDGoV21YhwSb5iWbriAw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu6DDGoV21YhwSb5iWbriAw It's always been my least favorite way for a film-maker to lazily show that someone is evil. Perhaps the worst example would be King Théoden in the Two Towers. It's an extreme closeup, which holds for a while, of Théoden eating in the most gross manner possible. It's as disgusting as it is ham-fisted. A modern equivalent to mustache-twirling, perhaps. [edit] It turns out that I meant "Denethor II, the Steward of Gondor" and not "King Théoden."

sidpatil 5y ago
> Perhaps the worst example would be King Théoden in the Two Towers. It's an extreme closeup, which holds for a while, of Théoden eating in the most gross manner possible. You mean Denethor II, the Steward of Gondor.