Self-reported fears to common indigenous animals in an adult UK population: the role of disgust sensitivity.
Two studies are described which report on the prevalence and intensity of self-reported fears to common indigenous animals in an adult UK population. The results of Study 1 suggest that (i) around a third of the variance in fear of indigenous animals can be accounted for by two factors which represent the theoretically coherent categories of invertebrates (e.g. slug, worm, cockroach) and fear-relevant animals (e.g. rat, snake, bat); (ii) females tend to report significantly greater levels of fear than males to a large majority of prevalently feared animals; and (iii) there were no obviously consistent patterns of fear with age. Study 2 identifies individual disgust sensitivity levels as being an important and significant predictor of fear of animals in both the invertebrate and fear-relevant categories, and finds that females report significantly higher disgust sensitivity levels than males. Since most of the prevalently feared indigenous animals appear to be disgust-relevant, this latter finding helps to explain the generally higher fear ratings given by females.
Davey
G C
GC
Psychology Department, City University, Northampton Sq, London, UK.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000828:Animal Population Groups; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology