Costly avoidance triggered by categorical fear generalization

Abstract

Fear generalization refers to the spread of acquired fear to novel stimuli that resemble the original fear-related stimulus. Preliminary evidence suggests that excessive fear generalization is a pathogenic feature of anxiety disorders, however, it remains unclear how fear generalization affects pathological avoidance. The current study thus aimed to examine the link between categorical fear generalization and costly avoidance. By combining a fear acquisition training phase and an avoidance test, the current findings showed that acquired fear spreads to novel stimuli that belonged to the same category of the original fear-related stimuli, but not to those that belonged to the fear-irrelevant categories. Importantly, participants avoided these fear-related novel stimuli despite costs. The current findings indicate that categorical fear generalization triggers costly avoidance. In terms of clinical implication, a decrease in costly avoidance aligned with a decrease in US expectancies. This emphasizes that behavioral approach may initiate extinction learning.