Self-reported human fear of spiders across demographic groups in Norway

Abstract

Conservation of wildlife depends upon people’s attitudes toward the various animal species. For example, conservation of invertebrates may be difficult due to fear and dislike of this animal group. We measured the prevalence of self-reported fear of spiders in a representative sample of the Norwegian population. Nine per cent answered ‘very much afraid’, 16 % ‘somewhat afraid’ and 75 % ‘not afraid’. The rate of self-reported fear (‘somewhat’ and ‘very much’) was higher among women (32 %) than among men (14 %). The elderly expressed a lower level of fear than did younger age groups, and respondents with more education reported less fear than did those with less education. Self-reported fear was at a lower level in rural than in urban areas, and higher in Central and Northern Norway than in other regions. These differences may be due to differences between groups in experience with spiders.

Keywords

• Arachnida
• Araneae
• humans
• demographic groups
• conservation biology