Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia

Abstract Spiders are mostly harmless, yet they often trigger high levels of both fear and disgust, and arachnophobia (the phobia of spiders) ranks among the most common specific animal phobias. To investigate this apparent paradox, we turned to the only close relatives of spiders that pose a real da...

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Autores principales:	Daniel Frynta, Markéta Janovcová, Iveta Štolhoferová, Šárka Peléšková, Barbora Vobrubová, Petra Frýdlová, Hana Skalíková, Petr Šípek, Eva Landová
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/18c987dbcd9346df9296f7447c8d7246
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:18c987dbcd9346df9296f7447c8d72462021-11-21T12:16:46ZEmotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia10.1038/s41598-021-01325-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/18c987dbcd9346df9296f7447c8d72462021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01325-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Spiders are mostly harmless, yet they often trigger high levels of both fear and disgust, and arachnophobia (the phobia of spiders) ranks among the most common specific animal phobias. To investigate this apparent paradox, we turned to the only close relatives of spiders that pose a real danger to humans: scorpions. We adopted a unique methodology in order to assess authentic emotions elicited by arthropods. Over 300 respondents were asked to rate live specimens of 62 arthropod species (including spiders, scorpions, cockroaches, and other insects) based on perceived fear, disgust, and beauty. We found that species’ scores on all three scales depended on the higher taxon as well as on body size. Spiders, scorpions, and other arachnids scored the highest in fear and disgust, while beetles and crabs scored the highest in beauty. Moreover, all chelicerates were perceived as one cohesive group, distinct from other arthropods, such as insects or crabs. Based on these results, we hypothesize that the fear of spiders might be triggered by a generalized fear of chelicerates, with scorpions being the original stimulus that signals danger.Daniel FryntaMarkéta JanovcováIveta ŠtolhoferováŠárka PeléškováBarbora VobrubováPetra FrýdlováHana SkalíkováPetr ŠípekEva LandováNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Daniel Frynta Markéta Janovcová Iveta Štolhoferová Šárka Peléšková Barbora Vobrubová Petra Frýdlová Hana Skalíková Petr Šípek Eva Landová Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
description	Abstract Spiders are mostly harmless, yet they often trigger high levels of both fear and disgust, and arachnophobia (the phobia of spiders) ranks among the most common specific animal phobias. To investigate this apparent paradox, we turned to the only close relatives of spiders that pose a real danger to humans: scorpions. We adopted a unique methodology in order to assess authentic emotions elicited by arthropods. Over 300 respondents were asked to rate live specimens of 62 arthropod species (including spiders, scorpions, cockroaches, and other insects) based on perceived fear, disgust, and beauty. We found that species’ scores on all three scales depended on the higher taxon as well as on body size. Spiders, scorpions, and other arachnids scored the highest in fear and disgust, while beetles and crabs scored the highest in beauty. Moreover, all chelicerates were perceived as one cohesive group, distinct from other arthropods, such as insects or crabs. Based on these results, we hypothesize that the fear of spiders might be triggered by a generalized fear of chelicerates, with scorpions being the original stimulus that signals danger.
format	article
author	Daniel Frynta Markéta Janovcová Iveta Štolhoferová Šárka Peléšková Barbora Vobrubová Petra Frýdlová Hana Skalíková Petr Šípek Eva Landová
author_facet	Daniel Frynta Markéta Janovcová Iveta Štolhoferová Šárka Peléšková Barbora Vobrubová Petra Frýdlová Hana Skalíková Petr Šípek Eva Landová
author_sort	Daniel Frynta
title	Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
title_short	Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
title_full	Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
title_fullStr	Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
title_full_unstemmed	Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
title_sort	emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/18c987dbcd9346df9296f7447c8d7246
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Emotions triggered by live arthropods shed light on spider phobia

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