Afraid of Nature? You May Be One of the Many People Around the World With Biophobia
A walk through the woods, a hike in the mountains, a walk along the shore: it’s a dream for some and a nightmare for others. In fact, even though the majority of people enjoy nature and the natural world, a growing minority may fear them, feeling fear, distress and disgust when it comes to the outdoors, according to a new study published in Frontiers of ecology and environment.
“Research has long assumed that people fundamentally feel positive emotions toward nature,” said study author Johan Kjellberg Jensen at Lund University in Sweden, according to a press release. “We looked at the opposite, that is, when there is a negative relationship with nature, and gathered knowledge about how it appears, what consequences it has and how it can be reversed.”
Learn more: The Mental and Physical Benefits of the Outdoors
Biophobia, a fear of nature
As natural beings ourselves, it would make sense that our species would harbor positive feelings towards plants and animals. But there are several studies and articles, notably those of Trends in ecology and evolution And People and Naturewhich suggest that people’s views on nature are actually much more complicated, with some people feeling a natural affinity for the outdoors and others feeling a natural aversion.
To address this surprising complexity, Kjellberg Jensen and a team of researchers looked at about 200 scientific studies and summarized their results. By reviewing studies conducted by teams in Sweden, Japan and the United States, the researchers created a comprehensive framework for studying the causes and consequences of “biophobia,” or fear of nature, in addition to its treatment.
Specifically, they found that an aversion to nature arises from a combination of factors, including a person’s environment and exposure to nature and natural media, as well as their emotions and mental and physical health. Their framework also highlights that people’s views of the outdoors, and the plants and animals found there, are deteriorating and could continue to deteriorate as people spend the majority of their time indoors.
“Urbanization combined with parental attitudes may increase children’s negative feelings and perceptions of danger in nature,” Kjellberg Jensen added in the release, “which becomes particularly relevant as more children grow up in cities.”
Learn more: Nature ASMR: How Natural Sounds Can Reduce Stress and Improve Anxiety and Depression
Fight against fear of nature
Whatever the causes, the consequences of biophobia are clear. At odds with conservation and public health efforts, an aversion to nature—the team’s framework suggests—can create animosity against species, whether those species are harmful, harmless, or useful to humans, and can prevent people from enjoying nature’s many benefits for human health, including its abilities to soothe pain, ease stress, and improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
As such, the team says it is imperative to broaden our exposure to nature and invest in natural spaces And natural sanctuaries to ward off our fear of the natural world, today and tomorrow.
“The phenomenon of biophobia is vast and requires a diverse toolbox,” Kjellberg Jensen added in the statement. “In some cases it is about increasing knowledge and contact with nature; in others it might be about reducing points of conflict between humans and nature. We need to better understand the mechanisms behind negative emotions to reverse the trend.”
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