Out of control: The role of spider movement and intolerance of uncertainty in spider fear

When asking spider-phobic individuals what they find most frightening about spiders, many report spiders’ unique movement characteristics. Here, we experimentally tested whether spider-specific movements are indeed a major cue in triggering spider fear. One-hundred-and-twenty participants (55 spider-fearful) viewed realistic 3D-animated videos of spiders and ladybugs moving on different paths and with different speeds. We found that spider-fearful individuals perceived spiders as more uncontrollable and unpredictable than ladybugs and non-fearful individuals. This held true to a certain degree even when spiders moved on predictable movement paths. Spiders also elicited more fear and disgust in spider-fearful individuals, which was amplified by curvy movement paths. Finally, spider-fearful individuals reported higher intolerance of uncertainty (IU), which may potentially increase distress in subjectively uncontrollable and unpredictable spider encounters. As far as we are aware, our study provides first experimental evidence of the effects of spider movement on cognition and emotion in spider fear, expanding the current knowledge about fear-related triggers.