Getting outside for a breath of fresh air feels like a reset for a lot of people. For others, it does the opposite. Nature triggers stress, discomfort, or a strong urge to get back indoors. Researchers have a name for that reaction: biophobia. A new review of nearly 200 studies suggests it may be becoming more common.
The review comes from researchers at Lund University and the University of Tokyo, pulling together decades of research across psychology, ecology, and medicine. Published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the paper argues that fear, disgust, and avoidance of nature deserve closer attention.
Animal phobias alone affect an estimated 4 to 9 percent of people worldwide. For those individuals, encounters with wildlife can trigger anxiety, nausea, and stress that push them away from natural spaces. But the authors say the issue reaches further. Many people without phobias still feel uneasy around insects, reptiles, or unfamiliar animals, even when there’s no real danger. That discomfort keeps them out of parks and trails, spaces long linked to better physical and mental health.
One issue is how narrowly biophobia has been studied. Nearly all existing research focuses on fear of animals rather than aversion to nature as a whole. Spiders and mammals dominate the data, while harmless species receive little attention. That gap leaves researchers with limited insight into why discomfort toward nature appears to be expanding.
Why this fear develops varies. Individual psychology matters, particularly sensitivity to anxiety. Biology plays a role, too, since age and genetics influence stress responses. Social factors appear especially powerful. Media coverage leans hard on rare animal attacks, and social media doesn’t help. After enough repetition, nature starts to feel dangerous rather than familiar.
Where you live shapes how nature feels. If wildlife conflict shows up regularly in local news, fear can settle in long before personal experience does. Family attitudes and cultural messaging often set expectations early, before anyone has a chance to form their own relationship with the outdoors.
The consequences are tangible. People who avoid nature feel less connected to it, and studies link stronger biophobic reactions with greater support for lethal wildlife control. That creates challenges for conservation efforts that depend on public support.
Researchers describe a reinforcing pattern. Less time outdoors feeds fear, which further reduces outdoor exposure. Over generations, that cycle can thin people’s relationship with the natural world.
Most studies capture only a single moment in time, and research outside Europe remains limited. Even so, the pattern is hard to ignore. When fear becomes the default response to nature, fewer people want to spend time in it, and even fewer feel motivated to protect it.
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