Why do we love pandas and hate cockroaches?
Visualizações: 806DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2024-07-13.22-1-7Keywords:
Evolutionary Ethnobiology; Human-Animal Relations; Biophilia; Biophobia; Plant blindnessAbstract
This review explores the intricate interplay of human emotions towards different animal species. It delves into the contrasting feelings we harbor towards appealing animals like pandas and our aversion towards others like cockroaches. Drawing from the evolutionary ethnobiology perspective, it uncovers how biophilia and biophobia, deeply rooted in our evolutionary past, shape our reactions to various species. We also examine the role of the Behavioral Immune System (BIS) in our aversion to pathogen-carrying arthropods, the impact of educational interventions on changing attitudes toward wildlife, and the influence of animation on human memory and attention. We underscore the significance of understanding these psychological mechanisms in conservation strategies. We highlight how the evolutionary naturalist mind, influenced by ancestral threats and contemporary challenges, is pivotal in fostering a more harmonious coexistence with nature.
Downloads
References
Albuquerque UP, Ferreira Júnior WS (2017) What Do We Study in Evolutionary Ethnobiology? Defining the Theoretical Basis for a Research Program. Evolutionary Biology 44:206–215 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-016-9398-z
Albuquerque UP, Moura JMB, Silva RH, Ferreira Júnior WS, Silva TC (2020) Evolutionary Psychology and Environmental Sciences. In: Shackelford TK (Ed). The Sage Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Sage Publishing, London. p.107-122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529739428.n5
Alves RRN, Barboza RRD (2018) The role of animals in human culture. In: Albuquerque UP, Alves RRN (eds). Ethnozoology. Academic Press, p. 277-301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809913-1.00015-6
Barnes E (2005) Diseases and human evolution. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
Bertels J, Bourguignon M, De Heering A, Chetail F, De Tiège X, Cleeremans A, Destrebecqz A (2020) Snakes elicit specific neural responses in the human infant brain. Scientific Reports 10:7443 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63619-y
Blue S, Hargiss CLM, Norland J, Dekeyser ES, Comeau P (2023) Plant blindness represents the loss of generational knowledge and cultural identity. Natural Sciences Education 52:e20106 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/nse2.20106
Curtis V, Biran A (2001) Dirt, Disgust, and Disease: Is Hygiene in Our Genes? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 44:17–31 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2001.0001
Falótico T, Verderane MP, Mendonça-Furtado O, Spagnoletti N, Ottoni EB, Visalberghi E, Izar P (2018) Food or threat? Wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) as both predators and prey of snakes. Primates 59:99–106 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-017-0631-x
Félix SB, Poirier M, Nairne JS, Pandeirada JNS (2023) The breadth of animacy in memory: New evidence from prospective memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02406-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02406-y
Ferreira Júnior WS, Medeiros PM, Albuquerque UP (2019) Evolutionary Ethnobiology. In: Els. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470015902.a0028232
Ferreira Júnior WS, Medeiros PM, Albuquerque UP (2022) Evolutionary ethnobiology. Ethnobiology and Conservation 11. https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2022-04-11.10-1-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2022-04-11.10-1-8
Frynta D, Elmi HSA, Rexová K, Janovcová M, Rudolfová V, Štolhoferová I, Král D, Sommer D, Berti DA, Frýdlová P (2023) Animals evoking fear in the Cradle of Humankind: snakes, scorpions, and large carnivores. The Science of Nature 110:33 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-023-01859-4
Fukano Y, Soga M (2021) Why do so many modern people hate insects? The urbanization–disgust hypothesis. Science of The Total Environment 777:146229 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146229
Fukano Y, Soga M (2023) Evolutionary psychology of entomophobia and its implications for insect conservation. Current Opinion in Insect Science 59:101100 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2023.101100
Gittins E (2013) The archaeology of becoming the human animal. Society & Animals 21(2): 120-133. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341297
Gish M, Hisano M, Soga M (2024) Does aversion to insects affect insecticide use? An elusive answer calls for improved methods in biophobia research. People and Nature pan3.10585 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10585
Guerra S, Betti S, Sartori L, Zani G, Castiello U (2024) Plant awareness in the hand. Journal of Environmental Psychology 94: 102246 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102246
Headland TN, Greene HW (2011) Hunter-gatherers and other primates as prey, predators, and competitors of snakes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108: E1470-E1474 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115116108
Isbell LA (2006) Snakes as agents of evolutionary change in primate brains. Journal of Human Evolution 51:1–35 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.12.012
Janovcová M, Rádlová S, Polák J, Sedláčková K, Peléšková Š, Žampachová B, Frynta D, Landová E (2019) Human Attitude toward Reptiles: A Relationship between Fear, Disgust, and Aesthetic Preferences. Animals (Basel) 9(5): 238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9050238
Komar GF, Mieth L, Buchner A, Bell R (2024) Manipulations of richness of encoding do not modulate the animacy effect on memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 50:580–594 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001249
Lima-Santos J, Costa HC, Molina FB (2020) The curse of being serpentiform: Perceptions of snakelike animals in São Paulo, Brazil. Ethnobiology and Conservation 9. https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2020-06-9.26-1-14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2020-06-9.26-1-14
LoBue V, Adolph KE (2019) Fear in infancy: Lessons from snakes, spiders, heights, and strangers. Developmental Psychology 55:1889–1907 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000675
LoBue V, Bloom Pickard M, Sherman K, Axford C, DeLoache JS (2013) Young children’s interest in live animals. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 31:57–69 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.2012.02078.x
LoBue V, DeLoache JS (2008) Detecting the Snake in the Grass: Attention to Fear-Relevant Stimuli by Adults and Young Children. Psychological Science 19:284–289 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02081.x
LoBue V, Rakison DH, DeLoache JS (2010) Threat Perception Across the Life Span: Evidence for Multiple Converging Pathways. Current Directions in Psychological Science 19:375–379 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721410388801
Lorenz AR, Libarkin JC, Ording GJ (2014) Disgust in response to some arthropods aligns with disgust provoked by pathogens. Global Ecology and Conservation 2:248–254 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2014.09.012
Manning A, Serpell J (2002) Animals and human society: Changing perspectives. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203421444
Masataka N, Hayakawa S, Kawai N (2010) Human Young Children as well as Adults Demonstrate ‘Superior’ Rapid Snake Detection When Typical Striking Posture Is Displayed by the Snake. PLoS ONE 5: e15122 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015122
McGrew WC (2015) Snakes as hazards: modeling risk by chasing chimpanzees. Primates 56:107–111 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-015-0456-4
Moura JMB, Ferreira Júnior WS, Silva TC, Albuquerque UP (2018) The Influence of the Evolutionary Past on the Mind: An Analysis of the Preference for Landscapes in the Human Species. Frontiers in Psychology 9:2485 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02485
Moura JMB, Oliveira ES, Da Silva RH, Ferreira Júnior WS, Da Silva TC, Albuquerque UP (2023) Congruence Effects on Medicinal Plant Recall: An Evolutionary Perspective. Evolutionary Psychological Science 9:436–450 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-023-00376-x
Neiderud C-J (2015) How urbanization affects the epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases. Infection Ecology & Epidemiology 5:27060 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/iee.v5.27060
Neuhoff JG (2018) Adaptive Biases in Visual and Auditory Looming Perception. In: Hubbard TL (ed) Spatial Biases in Perception and Cognition. 1 ed. Cambridge University Press, pp. 180–190 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316651247.013
Öhman A, Flykt A, Esteves F (2001) Emotion drives attention: Detecting the snake in the grass. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 130:466–478 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0096-3445.130.3.466
Öhman A, Mineka S (2003) The Malicious Serpent: Snakes as a Prototypical Stimulus for an Evolved Module of Fear. Current Directions in Psychological Science 12:5–9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01211
Perry GH (2014) Parasites and human evolution. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 23:218–228 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21427
Prokop P, Zvaríková M, Zvarík M, Pazda A, Fedor P (2021) The Effect of Animal Bipedal Posture on Perceived Cuteness, Fear, and Willingness to Protect Them. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 681241. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.681241 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.681241
Prokop P, Fančovičová J (2024) A positive presentation of wolves affects the explicit and implicit attitudes of schoolchildren towards them. International Journal of Science Education. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2024.2327272 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2024.2327272
Rossini JC (2014) Looming motion and visual attention. Psychology & Neuroscience 7:425–431 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3922/j.psns.2014.042
Schaller M, Park JH (2011) The Behavioral Immune System (and Why It Matters). Current Directions in Psychological Science 20:99–103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411402596
Silva RH, Ferreira Júnior WS, Muniz De Medeiros P, Albuquerque UP (2019) Adaptive memory and evolution of the human naturalistic mind: Insights from the use of medicinal plants. PLOS ONE 14: e0214300 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214300
Silva RH, Moura JMB, Ferreira Júnior WS, Nascimento ALB, Albuquerque UP (2022) Previous Experiences and Regularity of Occurrence in Evolutionary Time Affect the Recall of Ancestral and Modern Diseases. Evolutionary Psychological Science 8:363–373 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-022-00325-0
Silva RH, Moura JMB, Ferreira Júnior WS, Nascimento ALB, Albuquerque UP (2023) Different content biases affect fidelity of disease transmission along experimental diffusion chains. Current Psychology 42:23184–23194 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03399-y
Serpell J (2003) Anthropomorphism and anthropomorphic selection—beyond the "cute response". Society & Animals 11(1): 83-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156853003321618864
Soldati GT, Pereira AR, Silva RH, Moura JMB, Costa HC, Chaves LS (2024) Why Is the Frequency of a Risk More Important than Its Severity in Retaining Adaptive Information? A Multilevel Analysis of Human Evolution Using Snakes as Models. Biological Theory. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-024-00465-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-024-00465-5
Vagnoni E, Lourenco SF, Longo MR (2012) Threat modulates perception of looming visual stimuli. Current Biology 22: R826–R827 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.07.053
Wilson EO (1986) Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Harvard.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, João Victor Mendes Silva
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
