This theory states that phobias are formed to ensure survival.
A psychologist called Seligma (1971) stated that being aware of dangers may be beneficial. This is as a 'biological preparedness' to fear certain things could aid survival.
The theory focuses on nature to explain phobias. Mainly,people wish to survive, which is aided by fear. This means they can survive to reproduce. If fear wasn't present,we would put ourselves in harmful situations.
Certain objects/situations threaten our survival more. In animal phobias, we fear them as they are unlike us in shape. As they are less closely related to us in terms of genes, we believe that they are more likely to attack us.
However, you still require a negative experience to form a phobia. Evidence suggests that the 'survival phobias' are difficult to treat or get rid of. This suggests that they are 'built in' rather than learnt.
This also explains why fast cars,guns and cigarettes aren't feared as our ancestors had no contact with these.
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