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Do Spiders Ride on the Fear of Scorpions? A Cross-Cultural Eye Tracking Study

Authors :
Veronika Rudolfová
Iveta Štolhoferová
Hassan S. A. Elmi
Silvie Rádlová
Kateřina Rexová
Daniel A. Berti
David Král
David Sommer
Eva Landová
Petra Frýdlová
Daniel Frynta
Source :
Animals, Vol 12, Iss 24, p 3466 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

Deep fear of spiders is common in many countries, yet its origin remains unexplained. In this study, we tested a hypothesis based on recent studies suggesting that fear of spiders might stem from a generalized fear of chelicerates or fear of scorpions. To this end, we conducted an eye tracking experiment using a spontaneous gaze preference paradigm, with spiders and scorpions (previously neglected but crucial stimuli) as threatening stimuli and grasshoppers as control stimuli. In total, 67 participants from Somaliland and 67 participants from the Czech Republic were recruited and presented with a sequence of paired images. Both Somali and Czech people looked longer (total duration of the gaze) and more often (number of fixations) on the threatening stimuli (spiders and scorpions) when presented with a control (grasshopper). When both threatening stimuli were presented together, Somali participants focused significantly more on the scorpion, whereas in Czech participants, the effect was less pronounced, and in Czech women it was not significant. This supports the hypothesis that fear of spiders originated as a generalized fear of scorpions. Moreover, the importance of spiders as fear-eliciting stimuli may be enhanced in the absence of scorpions in the environment.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20762615
Volume :
12
Issue :
24
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Animals
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.f3b88a260a74534a0a53a740bc3bdb6
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12243466