Why Are Some Snakes More Terrifying and What Is Behind the Fear?

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10496688" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10496688 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=.43Jp4lbI5" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=.43Jp4lbI5</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani15050731" target="_blank" >10.3390/ani15050731</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Why Are Some Snakes More Terrifying and What Is Behind the Fear?

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Snakes are stimuli inducing an ancestral fear response in humans and other primates. Certain snakes evoke more subjective fear than others. True vipers are high-fear-eliciting snakes for both African and European respondents. This can be explained by the evolutionary experience of human ancestors in Africa. The question arises as to how snakes living in the Americas and Australia, with which humans have no evolutionary experience, will be evaluated. While these snakes belong to broader taxonomic groups that have distant relatives in the Old World, they have evolved independently for tens of millions of years. We prepared a set of 32 pictures depicting eight American pit vipers, eight Australian elapids, eight constrictors, and eight colubrids and asked the respondents to rank these stimuli according to the fear these snakes evoke. Here, we show a high cross-cultural agreement between evaluations by African and European respondents. Snakes characterized by a robust body shape, such as American pit vipers, Australian death adders, pythons, and boas, were the most fear-evoking. The body width was the strongest predictor of evoked fear. The contribution of coloration and pattern of the stimulus to the fear response was not proved. This supports the view that the patterns of fear are not dependent on direct experience, but its underlying mechanisms are shared cross-culturally.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Why Are Some Snakes More Terrifying and What Is Behind the Fear?

Popis výsledku anglicky

Snakes are stimuli inducing an ancestral fear response in humans and other primates. Certain snakes evoke more subjective fear than others. True vipers are high-fear-eliciting snakes for both African and European respondents. This can be explained by the evolutionary experience of human ancestors in Africa. The question arises as to how snakes living in the Americas and Australia, with which humans have no evolutionary experience, will be evaluated. While these snakes belong to broader taxonomic groups that have distant relatives in the Old World, they have evolved independently for tens of millions of years. We prepared a set of 32 pictures depicting eight American pit vipers, eight Australian elapids, eight constrictors, and eight colubrids and asked the respondents to rank these stimuli according to the fear these snakes evoke. Here, we show a high cross-cultural agreement between evaluations by African and European respondents. Snakes characterized by a robust body shape, such as American pit vipers, Australian death adders, pythons, and boas, were the most fear-evoking. The body width was the strongest predictor of evoked fear. The contribution of coloration and pattern of the stimulus to the fear response was not proved. This supports the view that the patterns of fear are not dependent on direct experience, but its underlying mechanisms are shared cross-culturally.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

40100 - Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

Projekt

<a href="/cs/project/GA20-21608S" target="_blank" >GA20-21608S: Mezikulturní studie reakce na hady v kolébce lidstva: Je strach evolučně konservativní?</a><br>

Návaznosti

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Rok uplatnění

2025

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Animals

ISSN

2076-2615

e-ISSN

2076-2615

Svazek periodika

15

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

5

Stát vydavatele periodika

CH - Švýcarská konfederace

Počet stran výsledku

21

Strana od-do

731

Kód UT WoS článku

001442374600001

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-86000610434