Attitudes and concerns about spiders expressed in a freshman entomology class

Abstract

An assessment of spider fears was made in a survey of Colorado State University students taking an introductory entomology course. Over two-thirds of the students expressed some measure of spider fear, ranging from being "a little apprehensive" to "cannot stand being in their presence." One sixth of the students expressed highest-level fears, with females three times more likely to indicate high spider fear than males. Together, these figures indicate that spider fear levels of college students in Colorado are substantially higher than those reported from European general populations. In voluntary comments, several unspecified descriptors were used, with "creepy" and "gross" being most common, followed by "disgusting" and "scary." The most commonly mentioned specific factor in spider fear was bites and the perceived danger of spiders. Physical features of spiders that were most commonly noted of concern were number of legs and hairiness. Several students indicated greater distress with larger spiders, but some had greater concerns with smaller spiders because of their ability to hide. Unpredictability of spiders and presence in the home, particularly the bedroom, were commonly expressed concerns. The urban legend of spider inhalation in sleep and the movie Arachnophobia appeared to be notable contributors to generation of spider fears. The need to better educate the public about spiders is discussed with some suggestions on how to achieve this.