. Since we were first able to walk on two legs millions of years ago in Africa, our fear of spiders has been a part of our DNA. Two US researchers agree that it is part of our DNA. They are not universally accepted. Experts believe that we fear spiders because of our social conditioning. Associate Professor Joshua New works at Barnard College’s Psychology Department. He is an affiliate of Columbia University. New York. Joshua New believes that spider-scary ancestors from Africa were more likely to survive in their environments than those who weren’t as alert. Is it genetic or do we have a fear of spiders? Experts disagree. The Sunday Times quotes Professor New as saying: “A variety of spider species possessing potent, vertebrate-specific poisons have populated Africa well before hominoids. They co-existed there over tens to millions of years.” The risk of being bitten by highly poisonous spiders was a constant, unpredicted, and serious danger to humans. Their findings were published in Evolution & Human Behavior. The study found that spiders are more easily recognized by humans than needles. In his website, Prof. New writes: “This ability (to spot spiders rapidly) was highly specific to stimuli which conformed to a spider “template”: participants were frequently inattentionally blind to scrambled versions of the spider stimuli, and to a modern threat (hypodermic needle), and even a different animal (housefly).” “This demonstrates that some evolutionary-relevant threats are highly-specified and can evoke what is perhaps best termed ‘reflexive awareness’: an immediate and elaborated perception sufficient to guide an adaptive behavioral response.” It’s not due to nature, but nurture, says Prof. May Professor of Psychology at the University of Plymouth in England, Jon May, believes we are not born with an inherent fear of spiders. Professor May believes that we acquire arachnophobia gradually over time. This may start in childhood, when we observe our older siblings, peers and adults reacting differently to spiders. Professor May thinks we develop fear of spiders when we watch others from an early age. Professor May points out certain characteristics of spiders, such as their dark colors, unpredictable movements and long angular legs, that make them more fearful. Professor May states that spiders tick many boxes and, like all phobias, can build up over time. “Spiders are just like other phobias. They are unpredictable movements, angular legs, dark colours, and very sensitive eyes. We are programmed to be afraid of them.” Professor May believes that arachnophobia may not be as a result of genetic programming. In the 20th Century, there were only 100 confirmed deaths due to spider bites. This compares with about one ,500 death from jellyfish bites. However, arachnophobia is far more common than jellyfish phobia. A European study found that between 3.5% to 6.1% suffer from arachnophobia. Citation: Joshua J. Tamsin C. German and New. Evolution and Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08. 004.
We are genetically programmed to fear spiders
