Dimensions Of Fear Research Articles

The fear of fear concept: evidence in favour of multidimensionality.

In recent years, questions have been raised regarding the dimensionality of existing measures of fear of fear. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed if the dimension(s) of any scale purporting to assess fear of fear are to guide theory and research. One of the most widely used measures of fear of fear comprises a set of two scales: the Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ) and the Body Sensations Questionnaire (BSQ). In the present study, the dimensional nature of both measures was empirically examined using a confirmatory approach. It was also determined whether the dimensions are differentially related to a variety of state and trait measures of psychological functioning. The results pointed to multi- rather than unidimensionality of the fear of fear construct. Correlational and scale-level confirmatory analyses across time-points indicated that (a) fear of fear dimensions are elements of a replicable higher order Negative Affect/Neuroticism/General Emotionality/Instability component; (b) this superfactor emerges orthogonal to the stable higher order factors of Positive Affect, Phobic Fear (excluding Agoraphobic Fears), and Agoraphobia; and (c) anxiety and fear are distinct phenomena. Implications for the conceptualization and measurement of fear of fear are briefly discussed.

Claustrophobic fear behavior: A test of the expectancy model of fear

The present study examined Reiss and McNally's expectancy model in the prediction of claustrophobic fear, measured across three domains. Non-clinical subjects ( N = 117) reporting claustrophobic concerns were administered a behavioral approach test to a claustrophobic chamber. Consistent with the expectancy model, danger expectancy, anxiety expectancy and the interaction of anxiety sensitivity and anxiety expectancy accounted for unique portions of behavioral performance, with other variables partialled out. The expectancy model variable set, however, did not meaningfully relate to subjective fear or heart-rate reactivity. The formulation of anxiety sensitivity as a measure of the salience of anxiety is discussed. These findings lend support to the theory as a model for the behavioral dimension of pathological fear. but not the subjective or physiological facets

Biological sex, sex role orientation, masculine sex role stress, dissimulation and self-reported fears

Given meta-analytic findings showing females to be generally more fearful than males on multi-dimensional self-report measures of fear, an empirical attempt was made to examine whether this outcome could be explained by psychological factors such as sex role orientation and masculine sex role stress. In addition, the bearing of dissimulation tendencies on findings relating self-reported fears to biological sex, sex roles, and masculine sex role stress was also addressed. Using a non-clinical sample of volunteers from Britain, it was observed with simple correlational analyses that females were more fearful than males on Social, Agoraphobic, Harmless animals and Sexual and aggressive scenes fears, even after holding constant the combined influences of Masculinity and Masculine sex role stress. The sex difference in Bodily injury, death and illness fears emerged only after adjusting for the joint influences of Masculinity and Masculine sex role stress. Applying hierarchical multiple regression analysis with interaction terms, it was found that (a) Biological sex contributed significantly in increasing the proportion of variance accounted for in scores on Social, Agoraphobic, Harmless animals and Sexual and aggressive scenes fears, after accounting for the joint influences of Masculinity (M), Femininity (F), Masculine sex role stress (MGRS), Dissimulation (Lie) and other potentially confounding factors; (b) following the simultaneous adjustment for the influences of the same set of potentially confounding factors (thus including M, F, MGRS, and Lie scores), Biological sex emerged as a consistent predictor of all five types of fears considered, with, as hypothesized, being female predicting high fear scores; (c) the same applied to the predictive ability of Masculine sex role stress (with Biological sex now included as a covariate), with, as predicted, higher stress being predictive of higher fear levels; (d) again, taking into account potentially confounding factors, Masculinity predicted all types of fears considered, except Fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, with, as anticipated, high Masculinity predicting low levels of fear, whereas, contrary to expectations, Femininity and Dissimulation did not succeed in predicting fear scores of any type; (e) few combinations of independent variables (involving Biological sex, M, F, MGRS and Lie) predicted fear scores significantly following adjustment for potential confounds, the significant predictors being MGRS × Biological sex (in relation to Social fears), Lie × Biological sex (Fears of bodily injury, death and illness) and M × F (Harmless animals fears) with respective βs of −.14, .17 and .22 (.01 ⩽ P ⩽ .05); (f) while Biological sex, Masculinity and Masculine sex role stress were all factors predicting the magnitude of self-reported fears, their relative contributions varied according to the fear dimension. Five major hypotheses about the relationship between sex roles and mental and physical health have been advanced in the literature: the traditional hypothesis, the balance theory of androgyny, the main effects androgyny hypothesis, the emergent properties theory of androgyny, and the Masculinity hypothesis (cf. K. Davidson-Katz (1991). Gender roles and health. In C. R. Snyder & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Clinical Psychology: The Health Perspective. New York: Pergamon). The present findings supported only the Masculinity theory across four out of five fear dimensions (all but the Sexual and aggressive scenes component). The implications of the findings and suggestions for new research directions are discussed.

Assessment of fear of fear among Agoraphobic patients: The Agoraphobic Cognitions Scale

A self-report scale for the measurement of fear of fear, the Agoraphobic Cognitions Scale (ACS), was psychometrically evaluated. Two samples of inpatients satisfying DSM-III-R criteria for unipolar depressive and/or anxiety disorder were studied. Intercorrelational and factor analyses indicated that the ACS measured three dimensions of fear of fear: fear of bodily incapacitation, fear of losing control, and fear of acting embarrassingly. Three subscales were constructed to measure these dimensions. The subscales proved to have satisfactory internal consistency and criterion-related validity. However, fear of losing control was related not only to other anxiety symptoms, but also to depressive symptomatology. Agoraphobic patients reported more fear of bodily incapacitation and fear of losing control than social phobic, generally anxious, and nonanxious depressed patients. Fear of embarrassing action was higher among agoraphobic and social phobic patients than among generally anxious and nonanxious depressed patients. These results were obtained after controlling for general anxiety and depression level and, thus, support the validity of the fear of fear construct.

Dissimulation and the sex difference in self-assessed fears: a brief note

Since the publication of the first findings with a Fear Survey Schedule over five decades ago, there have been no published studies examining the extent of overlap of factorially-derived robust dimensions of irrational fears with social desirability or dissimulation. Due to measurement problems associated with the use of individual fear items or general fear measures, the findings reported to date are relatively meaningless. In the present study, community volunteers were administered the Fear Questionnaire and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Lie scale, the correlation between both measures determined, and the influence of the Lie scores on the sex difference in self-assessed fears examined. Neither in males nor in females were Agoraphobic and Social fears significantly correlated with dissimulation. Significant associations reflecting small effect sizes were obtained in both samples between Blood-injury fears and Lie scores. Only the sex difference in Blood-injury fears was meaningfully affected by dissimulation: the usual finding of higher mean scores for females was obtained only after controlling for the influence of Lie scores. The importance of taking the research and practical implications of the findings with respect to the Blood-injury fears dimension seriously, despite the small magnitudes of the relevant data, was emphasized, as was the need for further studies in this area.

Dimensions, content and validation of the fear of AIDS schedule in health professionals

We examined the structure of the Fear of AIDS Schedule (FAIDSS) in a sample of 134 health care workers. Factor analysis indicated that there were five discrete dimension of fear of AIDS: fears of loss of control, of sex, of HIV infection through blood and illness, of death and medical interventions, and of contact with outsiders. These dimensions had low to moderate intercorrelations. The dimensions of fear of HIV infection through blood or illness, was significantly correlated with desired personal social distance from people with AIDS, and this dimension along with fear of death and medical interventions were correlated with desired public social distance. Fear of infection through blood and illness were predictors of both desired personal social distance and public social distance from people with HIV infection. The data suggest greater discrimination of AIDS fears with greater closeness of interaction with people with HIV disease, and that these dimensions of the FAIDSS are both reliable and valid measures of AIDS fears.

Agoraphobic, animal, death-injury-illness and social stimuli clusters as major elements in a four-dimensional taxonomy of self-rated fears: First-order level confirmatory evidence from an australian sample of anxiety disorder patients

In a recent review article, Arrindell, Pickersgill, Merckelbach, Ardon, and Cornet (1991) ( Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 13, 73–130) proposed an a priori four-dimensional categorization system for the description of self-rated fears on the basis of suggestions from previous reviews and research. The categories were described as: (I) Interpersonal events or situations, (II) Death, injuries, illness, blood and surgical procedures, (III) Animals, and (IV) Agoraphobia. While it has proven to be feasible to categorize fear factors/components derived in different empirical studies reliably into each of these categories, no confirmatory evidence is as yet available to support the factorial validity of the relevant dimensional system. Using the multiple-group method, clear evidence was found at the primary level for such in a sample of 398 anxiety disorder patients. In addition, the corresponding component scales were demonstrated to be highly consistent internally and to be moderately to highly intercorrelated, with none of the intercorrelations exceeding or even approaching the internal consistencies in magnitude — thus clearly indicating that a reliable distinction can be made between the four fear dimensions. The findings are discussed in relation to other classes of fear reactions described in the clinical-theoretical literature and to Endler's interactional model of personality. Following the line of research from the area of personality testing, it is, among other things, suggested that psychobiological, developmental, and behavioral-social studies should, in the future, be organized around the now well-established dimensions of fear described above.

Phobic dimensions: III. factor analytic approaches to the study of common phobic fears; An updated review of findings obtained with adult subjects

Findings from factor analytic studies of self-assessed fears are important for theoretical reasons and for clinical and applied practice. The present review gives a survey of some 38 studies published between 1957 and 1990 that were concerned with analyses of the self-ratings of adult Ss on multi-item measures of fear (Fear Survey Schedules). The question of central importance was whether, on the basis of the studies surveyed, there would be any evidence of the emergence of a general descriptive model of self-assessed fears. The studies were carried out in 12 different countries, with samples comprising either students, other community Ss, (potential) psychiatric patients, non-institutionalized phobic club members, or a combination of the first two groups. Based on previous reviews and data, four a priori major classes of fears were defined: (I) Interpersonal events or situations, (II) Death, injuries, illness, blood and surgical procedures, (III) Animals, and (IV) Agoraphobic fears. In addition, a subsidiary category was used for classifying dimensions falling outside the scope of the a priori categories. Leaving unreliable studies aside, a total of 194 factors were identified in 25 studies: 62 (32%) type I, 58 (29.9%) type II, 31 (16%) type III and 27 (13.9%) type IV dimensions, with only 16 factors (8.2%) falling in the residual category. All 25 studies were able to identify one or more type I or type II dimensions of fear; 88% yielded one or two Animal factors, while three out of four (75%) produced one or more factors relating to Agoraphobic fears. The fact that slightly over 90% (i.e., the great majority) of the dimensions could be classified under one or more of the four a priori categories supports the argument (e.g., Eysenck, 1987) that the sources of phobic fear constitute a very restricted sample of potentially phobic stimuli. The findings are discussed in the context of the preparedness hypothesis. Suggestions for further research in this area are given, as are references to guidelines to conducting valid factor analyses in order to maximize the validity of further findings.

The social phobia and anxiety inventory: Construct validity

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a new instrument composed of social phobia and agoraphobia subscales. The latter scale is used to detect social anxiety that may result from agoraphobia. The SPAI's construct validity was assessed through several procedures. First, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to validate the existence of the two subscales. Second, exploratory factor analyses examined the underlying structure of the social phobia subscale. Third, a Q factor procedure determined if different anxiety diagnostic groups could be differentiated by their SPAI response pattern. The results confirmed the utility of the two SPAI subscales and identified a number of dimensions contained within the social phobia subscale which differed depending upon the specific subject sample. In addition, the complaints of social phobies appeared more homogeneous than those of an agoraphobic comparison group. The results are discussed in terms of construct validity and the sensitivity of the SPAI to various dimensions of social phobia fears.

An empirically derived inventory to measure social fears and anxiety: The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory.

The development, reliability, and discriminative ability of a new instrument to assess social phobia are presented. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is an empirically derived instrument incorporating responses from the cognitive, somatic, and behavioral dimensions of social fear. The SPAI has high lest-retest reliability and good internal consistency. The instrument appears to be sensitive to the entire continuum of socially anxious concerns and is capable of differentiating social phobics from normal controls as well as from other anxiety patients. The utility of this instrument for improved assessment of social phobia and anxiety and its use as an aid for treatment planning are discussed. Social phobia is perhaps the least understood and the least researched of the anxiety disorders. Although there are several scales available to measure social anxiety, most were constructed prior to publication of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-lII; American Psychiatric Association, 1980), where the diagnostic criteria for social phobia were first introduced. Because social anxiety is experienced by individuals with many psychiatric disorders as well as by normals, these scales may not be specific to social phobia. Preparation of an instrument designed more specifically to assess social phobia requires consideration of several issues, including the critical features of the disorder, its cognitive, physiological, and behavioral dimensions (Lang, 1977), and the capability to sample behavior across a range of potentially distressful social situations. In addition, because social phobics differ in the degree of distress or functional impairment resulting from the disorder, the ability to assess level of severity would be a particularly positive feature of such an instrument. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a new, empirically derived self-report inventory. Its construction was based on the behavioral-analytic model outlined by Goldfried and D'Zurilla (1969). It assesses specific somatic symptoms, cognitions, and behavior across a range of potentially fear-producing situations. In order to assess severity, a Likert-scale format is used. This article describes the development and initial psychometric characteristics of the SPAI.

Fear of aids: Are there replicable, invariant questionnaire dimensions?

To date, there has been only one study (Bouton et al., 1987) that aims specifically at developing a measure for assessing personal concern about acquiring AIDS. In the present study, it was argued that the suitability and/or validity of the Bouton et al. Fear of AIDS Scale should be seriously questioned on conceptual and psychometric grounds. In addition, there are no published studies in which the dimensionality of AIDS fear has been examined. The present investigation was carried out to examine whether fear of AIDS can be shown to emerge as a consistent fear composite in factor analysis of specific AIDS-related fears and whether it can be distinguished from Blood/Injury fears, the latter of which has been established as a complex which possesses both cross-sample and cross-national invariance qualities. The dimensional structure of a 38-item Fear of AIDS Schedule (the acronym FAIDSS being used for describing it) was explored with a sample of 684 American students. Principal components analysis with VARIMAX rotation revealed two separate but related, internally consistent and replicable dimensions of AIDS fear: (I) Fear of AIDS contraction associated with risky sexual behavior, and the fear of the psychological and somatic consequences of having caught the disease, and (II) Fear of exposure to the AIDS virus and other associated viruses through (a) interpersonal, not necessarily sexual, contact with members of risk groups and (b) the subjection to medical procedures. Both components were shown to be invariant across sex. Further analyses pointed to the possibility of using a general (i.e. overall) measure of AIDS fear next to the factorially-derived subscales. On the basis of the patterns of correlations of the fear of AIDS constructs with the conventional Fear Survey Schedule-III and background factors such as sex, age, ethnicity/race, students' major in college and religious preference, it was concluded that, if unjustified overgeneralizations or misleading undergeneralizations are to be avoided, the researcher/clinician should use both the subscales and the general scale conjointly. Evidence in favor of discriminant validity of the fear of AIDS constructs in relation to Blood/Injury fears was obtained. Some implications and recommendations for further study were given.

Culture and the Structure of Children's Fears

This study examined the relationship between culture and the structure of children's fears. For the fear dimensions determined, the strength, nature, and clarity of this structure was explored. Items from the Louisville Fear Survey for Children were administered to third-grade Navajo and Anglo children, and obliquely rotated common factor analysis was used to estimate the number and nature of dimensions of fear. Levels of fear by sample were tested with an independent sample t-test on the factor scores generated for the two groups. An independent sample Z-test for proportions was used to compare the proportion of unrealistic fears between the two samples. Chi-square tests of independence were used to examine the association between fear and culture by item. The tests of significance strongly suggest that Navajochildren exhibit higher levels of fear than Anglo children. Factor analysis results suggest the existence of three correlated dimensions of fear as well as a large general factor. The nature of the factors obtained for the combined sample differs from that found in previous fear research. Factor analysis results of the Navajo sample alone suggest some similarity with the factor structure reported in previous fear research. Recommendations are made to incorporate culture as an intervening variable in the diagnosis of fear phobia and to examine further the relationship between culture and the structure of fear in children.

Specificity and psychosocial correlates of blood/injury fear and fainting

Psychosocial characteristics and correlates of blood/injury (B/I) fear and fainting were investigated in a group of 429 students. A history of B/I fainting was reported by 14.5% of subjects with no gender differential and fainters were more likely than non-fainters to have other family members who also fainted. Females reported significantly greater B/I fear, general fear, anxiety sensitivity and empathy. Fainters reported greater B/I fear, anxiety sensitivity and personal distress. Among fainters, those who avoided activities due to fainting showed a significantly earlier age of fainting onset, greater anxiety sensitivity and empathic concern. The Mutilation Questionnaire was found to be composed of at least two independent fear dimensions; one relates to the B/I fear and fainting relationship and the other relates to more general fearfulness.

Locus of Control-Levels of Death Anxiety Relationships

In an effort to more fully understand locus of control-death fear relationships, fifty-nine individuals were administered the Levenson Locus of Control scale, the Collett-Lester and Templer scales measuring overt death fear, and a sentence completion task assessing dimensions of covert fear. Correlational analysis suggested interactions among aspects of locus of control and aspects of death fear varying along the death/dying, self/other, and overt/covert continua. These data are felt to enable one to more completely understand the role that perceived controllability of life events play in determining individual reactions to one's own or another's death.

Religious correlates of fear of death among Saudi Arabians

Abstract This research examines the relationship of several measures of religiosity to a multidimensional fear of death scale using respondents from Saudi Arabia. Questionnaire data for 84 Saudi Arabians temporarily living in the United States were analyzed. Our results showed that current church (mosque) attendance has a significant negative correlation with fear of premature death, and self-perceived religiosity has a significant negative correlation with fear for significant others. These findings suggest that while the relationships between religion and fear of death vary between Americans and Saudia Arabians, religious measures and certain dimensions of fear of death are significantly related within samples from both cultures.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks: Covariation along the dimensions of panic and agoraphobic fear.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks: Covariation along the dimensions of panic and agoraphobic fear.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks: covariation along the dimensions of panic and agoraphobic fear.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks: covariation along the dimensions of panic and agoraphobic fear.

Relationship between hypnotic susceptibility, fear of failure and need for achievement.

21 men were administered a modified version of Murray's (1938) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to measure fear of failure and need for achievement. Hypnotic susceptibility was then tested using the Harvard Group Scale, Form A. The prediction that those subjects high in fear of failure would be less susceptible than those in low fear of failure was supported. No relationship was found between need for achievement and hypnotic susceptibility, supporting previous findings. The results were discussed in terms of the dimensions of fear of failure which would lead to low susceptibility.

Sex Differences in Fear of Crime among Older People

This study tests the hypothesis that women are more fearful of crime than are men among a sample of persons aged 55 and over. Although this hypothesis has been supported by many previous studies of both elderly and general populations, the meaning and explanation of this relationship have not been successfully ascertained. Fear of crime is measured here by thirteen separate items. The results show that women are not more fearful of crime in general, but rather express greater apprehension of walking alone in their neighborhoods at night. This may be related to women's lower self-assessed abilities to protect themselves against assault. Sex differences on all other dimensions of fear of crime are negligible.

Aristotle, Frye, and the Theory of Tragedy

N ORTHROP FRYE has recognized a basic kinship between his Anatomy of Criticism and Aristotle's Poetics. After noting with regret the parochialism of many contemporary critics, he warmly alludes to Aristotle's conception of a totally intelligible structure of knowledge attainable about poetry which is not poetry itself, or the experience of it, but poetics.' This conception, reflected concisely in the opening lines of the Poetics, becomes the program of the Anatomy. Frye, however, aspires to improve on his model by making use of all the relevant doctrines and techniques of criticism developed since Aristotle wrote. Tragedy is the central theme of the Poetics and a subject of major importance in the Anatomy as well. In comparing the two approaches to this genre we are struck by their wide divergence in method and conclusions. Clearly both Aristotle and Frye make profound contributions to our understanding of tragedy but neither succeeds in providing a definitive statement that clarifies the nature of the genre as it has emerged and developed in the western literary tradition. I propose in this paper to assess our current understanding of the nature of tragedy based on the contributions made by Aristotle and Frye and then to suggest a method by which these important theoretical statements can be harmonized to lead us to a fuller understanding of the potentialities and boundaries of the genre. The major tenets of Aristotle's theory of tragedy are well known. I summarize them here for later comparison with Frye. For Aristotle tragedy is an imitation (mimesis) of actions involving the pitiable and fearful dimensions of human existence. This form of imitation repre-