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Scared of Spiders? They’ll Look Bigger

Scared of Spiders? They’ll Look Bigger

February 18, 2016

Social Sciences & Humanities

U.S. News and World Report — Scared of spiders? There might be a compelling reason.

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel, discovered that arachnophobes – people who are afraid of spiders – see them as larger than they actually are.

“We found that although individuals with both high and low arachnophobia rated spiders as highly unpleasant, only the highly fearful participants overestimated the spider size,” Dr. Tali Leibovich, the leader of the study, said in a news release.

In the study, which was published in Biological Psychology, students at Ben-Gurion University were shown pictures of spiders along with neutral images, such as butterflies.

Only the students who were “highly fearful” of spiders thought they were bigger than the butterflies.

This study also raises more questions such as: Is it fear that triggers size disturbance, or maybe the size disturbance is what causes fear in the first place?”

Dr. Leibovich added, positing a chicken-and-egg conundrum: “Future studies that attempt to answer such questions can be used as a basis for developing treatments for different phobias.”

Read more about the study here >>