Does Your Gender Determine Your Fear Of Spiders?
I cannot imagine anyone not being afraid of spiders. They are unworldly looking, they have several slow-moving legs and, worst of all, many of them have hair! It is estimated that five percent of the public has, what the experts refer to as, arachnophobia. You have certainly heard of arachnophobia, but you would probably be hard pressed to name another phobia. And according to recent research, ninety percent of the five percent of people who live with arachnophobia are women. So why is that? Not long ago research into how human behavior is affected by the presence of spiders was conducted at the University of New South Wales.
Many people may dismiss the fear of spiders as a more feminine fear. Maybe there are many men who remember killing spiders for their sisters. In any case, it does seem as though more women than men are afflicted with arachnophobia, but why?
The experts that conducted the study came to the conclusion that a female sex hormone is the most likely factor that makes women particularly afraid of spiders. This was discovered while researchers were attempting to alleviate a patient’s fear of spiders with exposure therapy. The researchers found that exposure therapy was not an effective method to cure all women in the study, but for most, the therapy worked. It turns out that women with low sex hormones are more likely to not respond well to exposure therapy. Now researchers are considering the possibility of hormone treatments as a therapy for those suffering from arachnophobia.
Remember there is a difference between fearing spiders and having arachnophobia. Those who have been labeled arachnophobes are so fearful of spiders that panic attacks can result from even seeing a picture of a spider. Who knows what the stats are regarding how many people possess a general fear of spiders, but my guess is everybody.
Have you ever considered receiving therapy in order to alleviate your fear of spiders, if you have a fear?
