How do phobias manifest? Like I understand if you’ve had a traumatic experience with something, you might develop a phobia of it, but is there another way? I’ve heard that phobias can be passed down generations, how is that possible if it’s a mindset?
In: Biology
Fear can be taught. Imagine being told your whole childhood that “any black man you see is going to rape and rob you”. You’ll develop a fear of black men without ever knowing exactly why.
There was an experiment in the 1960s with monkeys and during the experiment, an object was placed in the chamber with the monkeys. Whenever the monkeys would touch or interact with the object, they’d get sprayed with strong, uncomfortable air blast. Some new monkeys were introduced into the chamber and when they went to interact with the object, the original monkeys pulled the newbies away and got very threatening toward them. They were being taught to fear the object.
Latest Answers