Examining the multi‐disciplinary origins of biophobia towards threatening and non‐threatening wildlife in a highly urbanised city in China

Lau, Sam and Fong, Jason and Zsidó, András N. and Browning, Matthew (2026) Examining the multi‐disciplinary origins of biophobia towards threatening and non‐threatening wildlife in a highly urbanised city in China. PEOPLE AND NATURE, 8. pp. 2338-2352. ISSN 2575-8314

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Abstract

1. Urbanisation is reshaping how people experience wildlife, reducing our shared spaces with local biodiversity. Fewer opportunities for human–wildlife interactions weaken our emotional attachments to nature and precipitate a loss of species knowledge and familiarity. However, we still know little about why modern city residents have become increasingly fearful of both threatening and non-threatening animals. 2. To address this gap, we surveyed 1430 adults in Hong Kong, a highly urbanised city in China, to examine how nature connectedness, disgust sensitivity and experiences with wildlife interact to predict biophobia across threatening animals (snakes and spiders) and non-threatening animals (small harmless animals, such as mice, bats and worms). 3. Using structural equation modelling, we found that behavioural nature connectedness—how often people physically engage with nature—is the strongest protective factor against biophobia. In contrast, psychological nature connectedness only buffered threatening animal fears, revealing a critical role of engagement with natural environments in reducing fears for a multitude of small animals. 4. Distinct disgust pathways also shaped biophobia: animal reminder disgust predicted fear of threatening animals, whereas blood–injection–injury fear was the strongest predictor of the fear of non-threatening animals. Most strikingly, fears of threatening animals (especially spiders) spilled over to fears of non-threatening animals, even after accounting for disgust, nature connectedness and gender, suggesting a previously underexplored generalisation process in biophobia. 5. Contrary to the ‘vicious cycle of biophobia’ model, sociocultural pathways—parental fears and personal experiences with animals—did not meaningfully explain this fear generalisation, implying that social transmissions of knowledge did not generalise biophobic responses between threatening and non-threatening animals. 6. Our findings highlight the significant, opposing effects of disgust and physically engaging with nature on biophobia. Interventions that strengthen opportunities for direct nature experiences may be more effective than traditional, information-based approaches in reducing disgust and cultivating behavioural nature connectedness. This is important for reducing public fears, fostering coexistence and removing barriers for conservation efforts that benefit a broader spectrum of local species

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