Practical Work at School Reduces Disgust and Fear of Unpopular Animals

Christoph Randler · Eberhard Hummel · Pavol Prokop

135 citations0/0 files storedSociety and Animals

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Animal and Plant Science Education Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport Human-Animal Interaction Studies

Abstract

Abstract Disgust and fear are basic emotions that protect humans against pathogens and/or predators. Natural selection favored individuals who successfully escaped or avoided harmful animals; thus animals who pose a disease threat activate aversive responses in humans. However, all these animals who are generally disliked have rights to their own existence and play important roles in ecosystems. Here, we used three unpopular live animals (wood louse, snail, and mouse) in practical biology work with 11-13-year-old children (experimental group). The control group had no opportunity to work with animals. Reported disgust and fear of these animals significantly decreased during the study in the experimental group but not in the control group. This study experimentally supports the idea that attitudes toward animals are positively influenced by physical contact with them.

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References

2000Handbook of emotions, 2nd ed.2007The non-economic motives behind the willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation 2011Evolution and the Social Mind : Evolutionary Psychology and Social Cognition 2007The behavioral immune system: Its evolution and social psychological implications.2002A History of Effect Size Indices 2010Effects of Having Pets at Home on Children's Attitudes toward Popular and Unpopular Animals 1998A cross-cultural study of animal fears 2003Science education and affect

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