Why do people tend to be grossed/creeped out my some insects more than others?

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I feel like a lot of people who are freaked out by spiders are less freaked out by crickets or beetles. While millipedes and centipede and spiders tend to gross people put because they can be poisonous, people know that cockroaches aren’t poisonous, but see them as repulsive.

In: Biology

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It might be evolutionary. Like you said, spiders and millipedes could be poisonous, and therefore we instinctively avoid them. But crickets and beetles are actually a food source. So maybe our brains aren’t as hardwired to be afraid of them because that would have limited our ability to survive.

As to roaches, we often associate them with filth (which is ironic because they’re actually very hygienic critters). So I think the repulsion part comes from an association rather than any instinctual fear.

But also, the more we are exposed to something, the less we tend to fear it.

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