Markéta Janovcová

Charles University in Prague | CUNI · Department of Zoology (PF)

Introduction: Animal and human ancestors developed complex physiological and behavioral response systems to cope with two types of threats: immediate physical harm from predators or conspecifics, triggering fear, and the risk of infections from parasites and pathogens leading to the evolution of the behavioral immune system with disgust as the key...

Spiders are among the animals evoking the highest fear and disgust and such a complex response might have been formed throughout human evolution. Ironically, most spiders do not present a serious threat, so the evolutionary explanation remains questionable. We suggest that other chelicerates, such as scorpions, have been potentially important in th...

Snakes are known as highly fear-evoking animals, eliciting preferential attention and fast detection in humans. We examined the human fear response to snakes in the context of both current and evolutionary experiences, conducting our research in the cradle of humankind, the Horn of Africa. This region is characterized by the frequent occurrence of...

High fear reaction, preferential attention, or fast detection are only a few of the specific responses which snakes evoke in humans. Previous research has shown that these responses are shared amongst several distinct cultures suggesting the evolutionary origin of the response. However, populations from sub-Saharan Africa have been largely missing...

High fear reaction, preferential attention, or fast detection are only a few of the specific responses which snakes evoke in humans. Previous research has shown that these responses are shared amongst several distinct cultures suggesting the evolutionary origin of the response. However, populations from sub-Saharan Africa have been largely missing...

We tested the hypothesis that human reaction to snakes is very specific when compared to other reptiles. Using the eye-tracker, we measured free-gazing pattern of 61 respondents while presenting snake and other reptile images categorized as fear-eliciting, disgusting, beautiful, and neutral. We divided the respondents according to their SNAQ and DS...

Theories explain the presence of fears and specific phobias elicited by animals in contemporary WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations by their evolutionary past in Africa. Nevertheless, empirical data about fears of animals in the Cradle of Humankind are still fragmentary. To fill this gap, we examined which lo...

Introduction The administration of questionnaires presents an easy way of obtaining important knowledge about phobic patients. However, it is not well known how these subjective measurements correspond to the patient’s objective condition. Our study aimed to compare scores on questionnaires and image evaluation to the objective measurements of the...

Spiders evoke significant fear and disgust in many people; such a complex response has been formed throughout human evolution. However, most spiders do not present a serious threat, so the evolutionary explanation is controversial. We suggest that other chelicerates, e.g., scorpions, might have been important in the formation and fixation of the sp...

Many animal species signal their readiness to fight to the opponent Such signalling is called a threat display Among snakes, the most famous examples are cobras and vipers Human visual system has evolved to successfully detect inconspicuous snakes (Snake detection theory) Whether humans are also sensitive to snake threat display remains unclea

Background Although tiny in size and mostly harmless, spiders evoke exceptional fear in a significant part of the population and arachnophobia is one of the most common anxiety disorders with prevalence 2.7–6.1%. Two standard measures have been widely used to reliably assess the emotional and cognitive component of spider fear, the Spider Questionn...

Spiders are mostly harmless, yet they often trigger high levels of both fear and disgust, and arachnophobia (the phobia of spiders) ranks among the most common specific animal phobias. To investigate this apparent paradox, we turned to the only close relatives of spiders that pose a real danger to humans: scorpions. We adopted a unique methodology...

To investigate a specificity of spiders as a prototypical fear- and disgust-eliciting stimuli, we conducted an online experiment. The respondents rated images of 25 spiders, 12 non-spider chelicerates, and 10 other arthropods on a fear and disgust 7-point scale. The evaluation of 968 Central European respondents confirmed the specificity of spiders...

Background: Although tiny in size and mostly harmless, spiders evoke exceptional fear in a significant part of the population and arachnophobia belongs to one of the most common anxiety disorders with prevalence 2.7-6.1%. Two standardized psychometrics have been widely used to reliably assess the emotional and cognitive component of spider fear, th...

Animals have always played an important role in our everyday life. They are given more attention than inanimate objects, which have been adaptive during the evolution of mankind, with some animal species still presenting a real threat to us. In this study, we focused on the species usually evaluated as the scariest and most disgusting in the animal...

Snakes have been important ambush predators of both primates and human hunter-gatherers throughout their co-evolutionary history. Viperid snakes in particular are responsible for most fatal venomous snakebites worldwide and thus represent a strong selective pressure. They elicit intense fear in humans and are easily recognizable thanks to their dis...

Animal phobias are one of the most prevalent mental disorders. We analysed how fear and disgust, two emotions involved in their onset and maintenance, are elicited by common phobic animals. In an online survey, the subjects rated 25 animal images according to elicited fear and disgust. Additionally, they completed four psychometrics, the Fear Surve...

This paper continues our previous study in which we examined the respondents’ reaction to two morphologically different snake stimuli categories – one evoking exclusively fear and another evoking exclusively disgust. Here we acquired Likert-type scale scores of fear and disgust evoked by the same snake stimuli by a total of 330 respondents. Moreove...

Animals can evoke a wide range of emotions helping us to choose a quick and appropriate reaction towards them: approach or avoidance in general. This work has focused on disgust evoked by amphibians in humans as well as perceived beauty. Due to the high morphological variability of recent amphibian taxa, we examined humans’ cognitive categorisation...

Focusing on one group of animals can bring interesting results regarding our attitudes toward them and show the key features that our evaluation of such animals is based on. Thus, we designed a study of human perception of all reptiles focusing on the relationship between perceived fear, disgust, and aesthetic preferences and differences between sn...

Humans perceive snakes as threatening stimuli, resulting in fast emotional and behavioral responses. However, snake species differ in their true level of danger and are highly variable in appearance despite the uniform legless form. Different snakes may evoke fear or disgust in humans, or even both emotions simultaneously. We designed three-step-se...

Animals have always represented an important part of life and thus they can evoke a wide range of emotions. This work has focused on the positive emotions evoked by animals in humans, specifically beauty as seen by human eyes. Since there is a multitude of species in the world that belong to various taxonomic groups, it is important to examine, how...

Aesthetic preferences for animals correspond with the species’ presence in the worldwide zoos and influence the conservation priorities. Here, we investigated the relationship between the willingness of respondents to protect mammals and some attributed characteristics such as their aesthetic beauty. Further, several methodological aspects of measu...

According to the fear module theory, humans are evolutionarily predisposed to perceive snakes as prioritized stimuli and exhibit a fast emotional and behavioral response toward them. In Europe, highly dangerous snake species are distributed almost exclusively in the Mediterranean and Caspian areas. While the risk of a snakebite is relatively low in...

There is about 3500 extant snake species, which together cover a wide morphological variability. The list includes small, underground worm-like species, colorful milk snakes, vipers and rattlesnakes with prominent scales, huge boid snakes, and many more. We asked respondents to rank a set of snake pictures and, based on the results, we selected spe...