Why people fear snakes and spiders revealed

A researcher has revealed that to be afraid of snakes must have been an evolutionary advantage for our ancestors as they ate primates.

When it comes to other phobias like moths, negative experiences in young age and even being around other people who are afraid of them might be the reason behind their fears.

Ottmar Lipp, Professor of Psychology at Curtin University said that it has been proven that the ability to spot snakes quickly, to be alert to them and learn to be afraid of them was an advantage, News.com.au reported.

Being afraid of snakes seems to be a physiological response and people have been shown to be more open to developing a phobia to them, however, reason behind fear from spiders is still unclear as they do not prey on humans.

The supposed theory could be that the disgust feeling provoked in people for spiders ultimately turns into fear.

As far as being dangerous to humans, Lipp believed it was actually quite rare to die from a spider bite, unlike snakes which still killed about a hundred people each year, especially in places like India and Indonesia.

Prof Lipp also suggested that the parent's attitude towards a situation say going to a dentist would be the biggest predictor of whether a child would have a negative response to it or not.