title: Thinking high but feeling low: An exploratory cluster analysis investigating how implicit and explicit spider fear co-vary.
abstract: Research has demonstrated large differences in the degree to which direct and indirect measures predict each other and variables including behavioural approach and attentional bias. We investigated whether individual differences in the co-variance of "implicit" and "explicit" spider fear exist, and whether this covariation exerts an effect on spider fear-related outcomes. One hundred and thirty-two undergraduate students completed direct and indirect measures of spider fear/avoidance, self-report questionnaires of psychopathology, an attentional bias task, and a proxy Behavioural Approach Task. TwoStep cluster analysis using implicit and explicit spider fear as criterion variables resulted in three clusters: (1) low explicit/low implicit; (2) average explicit/high implicit; and (3) high explicit/low implicit. Clusters with higher explicit fear demonstrated greater disgust propensity and sensitivity and less willingness to approach a spider. No differences between clusters emerged on anticipatory approach anxiety or attentional bias. We discuss results in terms of dual-systems and cognitive-behavioural models of fear.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Concordia University , Montreal , QC , Canada.|b School of Psychology , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Allison J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6969-718X
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ouimet
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bahl
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Concordia University , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Adam S
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2807-184X
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Radomsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D013112:Spiders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety; attention bias; dual-systems model; implicit associations; spider fear