Phobics overestimate the size of spiders, according to a study that shows emotions alter the perception of reality.
You’ve just come close to cardiac arrest when you come face to face with a huge, monstrous spider, its abdomen laden with dark tufts, all eight eyes on you, looking dangerously hungry. How did this hybrid species, between the tarantula and the black widow, get into your room, located in the heart of an urban area of a country with a temperate climate?
There is a rational explanation for this. This predator that stalks you is no bigger than the phalanx of your little finger and would have a hard time chasing anything other than a gnat. In fact, like all victims of arachnophobia, your perception is altered by your anxiety.
Emotions shape reality
A small study published in the journal Biological Psychology indeed shows that people who fear spiders tend to see them much larger than they actually are. To achieve this, 27 participants were divided into two groups – one with arachnophobia, and the other not.
The researchers gave them images of insects and animals (snake, butterfly, wasp, rabbit, fly, bird, lamb). The subjects had to assess the actual size of these species and specify what type of emotion the image elicited in them.
However, it appeared that the arachnophobia group significantly overestimated the size of the spiders, unlike the other group. Regarding the other species, the evaluations were similar between the two groups.
In addition, the researchers observed that this overestimation of size was linked both to the fear aroused by the image, but also to the relevance of this image. For example, participants who said they were afraid of snakes or wasps did not overestimate their height.
For the researchers, this means “the size distortion is modulated by the relevance of the stimulus from the observer’s point of view, as well as by the aversion it generates. We suggest that valence (intrinsically pleasant or unpleasant quality of a stimulus or a situation, editor’s note) and the relevance attributed to the situation, both play a role in the perception of size ”. These works show in any case that emotions influence our interpretation of the tangible world, and that each one develops an experience of reality which is specific to him.
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