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Animal fears in the Antipodes: normative data from an Australian sample
Author(s) -
PACKER JEANETTE S.,
BOND NIGEL W.,
SIDDLE DAVID A. T.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1987.tb00749.x
Subject(s) - psychology , sample (material) , normative , habituation , demography , clinical psychology , test (biology) , antipodes , geography , ecology , philosophy , chemistry , geodesy , epistemology , chromatography , sociology , psychotherapist , biology
The present study investigated reported fear of snakes, spiders and mutilation in an Australian sample ( N =235). Standardized questionnaires were used, and scores from the Australian sample were compared with those obtained by other authors from North American and Swedish samples. The psychometric characteristics of test scores from the Australian sample were similar to those from the North American and Swedish samples. Although there were no differences in reported fear of snakes between the three samples, both the Australian and North American samples reported greater fear of spiders than did the Swedish sample. Females scored higher on all scales than did males, and Australian and North American females reported greater fear of mutilation than did Swedish females. Test‐retest reliability in a non‐clinical Australian subsample ( n =48) was low for all scales. The results are discussed in terms of the adaptation/habituation hypothesis and the preparedness account of the acquisition of fear.