title: Lay beliefs about phobia.
abstract: One hundred fifty people completed a two-part questionnaire that investigates beliefs about the nature and cure of phobia. The questionnaire was derived from interviews with people as well as a content analysis of salient literature. Both parts of the questionnaire had a fairly complex, but interpretable, factor structure. Five factors emerged from the 23-item attitude section: the idea that certain personality factors related to phobia; there are physical correlates of phobia; observational learning causes phobia; phobias are caused by behavioral pairing; and, finally, Freudian ideas of unconscious association. The 13-item treatment section showed four factors: alternative medical practices; psycho-analytic practices, desensitization, and flooding. There was a clear and logical relationship between perceptions of the causes and treatment of phobia. The study demonstrates that lay people have coherent theories of the etiology and cure of phobia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University College London.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furnham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires