Fear of Spiders

Why are so many humans so afraid of spiders? Is arachnophobia like any other fear that is irrational, or could our fear of spiders have a deeper basis?

According to a new study, arachnophobia is less a sign of emotional weakness and more a finely-tuned survival instinct. The researchers of this new study claim that this fear is a product of human evolution. According to them, spiders presented such a great danger to our ancestors several millions of years ago in Africa that a fear of the species became part of our DNA. Being alert to spiders, even if small, became part of our ancestors’ survival instincts, something, the researchers say, that has been passed down to us.

For the study, researchers from Columbia University in the US asked a total of 252 individuals to study computer screens featuring abstract shapes and data. Images that are known to induce fear or disgust in humans, like flies and needles, were then introduced to test reaction speed. The test was conducted to see how quickly participants were able to identify a spider while dealing with a range of other environmental stimuli. The researchers found that participants were able to pick out spider shapes far sooner than any other shape.

‘A number of spider species with potent, vertebrate-specific venoms populated Africa long before hominoids… and have co-existed there for tens of millions of years,’ Joshua New of Columbia University told Sunday Times. ‘Humans were at perennial, unpredictable and significant risk of encountering highly venomous spiders in their ancestral environments… Even when not fatal, a black widow spider bite in the ancestral world could leave one incapacitated for days or even weeks, terribly exposed to dangers.’

As the researchers elaborate: ‘Although reflexive awareness of any threat would be a tremendous advantage, only the basic forms of a few ancestral threats have likely persisted long enough for the adaptation of a corresponding perceptual template. Along with a few others like snakes and angry faces, spiders may thus constitute an evolutionarily- relevant threat that humans are not only biologically prepared to fear but also reflexively perceive.’

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