Etiology and maintenance of dog fears

Abstract

Studies on the etiology of small animal phobias have focused primarily on snake fears. In order to examine etiological factors in the development of dog fears, a structured interview which obtained information on frightening and painful experiences (conditioning events) with dogs, and Ss' expectations about the consequences of contact with dogs, was administered to 14 dog-fearful and 21 non-fearful college students. Conditioning events were common in both the fearful group (56%) and the non-fearful group (66%), and in over half of these cases, the animal inflicted pain. All fearful Ss believed that fear and physical harm were likely consequences of an encounter with a dog, while very few non-fearful Ss had such expectations. In contrast with snake fears, painful experiences are common among dog-fearful Ss, and an exaggerated expectation of harm appears to be a factor in the maintenance of the fear. The implications of these results for current models of fear acquisition are discussed.