Emotional, personal and behavioural correlates of arachnophobia

Abstract

Phobic responses can be described as a deficit of effortful automatic and voluntary regulation of emotions. In neurobiological models of anxiety the Threat Evaluation System evaluates the emotional significance of stimuli before they are processed consciously. The quick automatic processes are followed by voluntary vigilance-avoidance reaction. Prefrontal cortex is involved in up and down regulation of emotional responses by modulating activity in the insula and amygdala. The behavioral activation/inhibition systems (BAS/BIS) provide the motivational basis for individual differences in behavior, mood and affect. Hypothesis: Special interests concerned to six facets of individually unique emotional profile proposed by Davidson within the framework of affective neuroscience –and whether they might show gender differences in relation to the phobia. Methods:The sample of 162 medical students filled out set of questionnaires (Spider phobia, General health, Trait emotional intelligence quotient, Emotional style and BIS/BAS scales) which were furthermore statistically processed by ANOVA and regression analyses. Findings: Gender, resiliency, awareness, general anxiety and coping accounted for small but significant variance of arachnophobia. In men was level of subclinical phobia significantly lower than in women. The buffer effect of gender was shown up in the models for interaction between arachnophobia and self-control, awareness, resiliency, coping, respectively. Gender also mediated relationship between phobia and BIS motives. Conclusion: Self-control, resiliency, awareness and coping influenced differently level of arachnophobia in relation to gender. Especially awareness that displays characteristics of interoceptive signals seems to have big potential for decreasing of symptoms of phobia via cultivation of bodily perceptions in psychotherapeutic settings.