In a favorable development for men everywhere who fear they may one day become obsolete, the BBC News reports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8237691.stm) that according to a recently completed study, women genetically have a much greater fear of spiders and other dangerous creatures than men do. Reminds me of the Woody Allen movie Annie Hall, when a spider in Annie's bath prompts her to call Alvy in the middle of the night, and as the story goes, they get back together.
The new research was headed up by developmental psychologist, Dr David Rakison, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 10 baby girls, and 10 baby boys were subjected to a number of pictures of spiders to gauge their reactions.
First the babies were shown a picture of a spider with a fearful human face, followed by images of a spider paired with a happy face - alongside an image of a flower twinned with a fearful face.
The results showed that the girls - some as young as 11 months old - looked longer at the picture of the happy face with a spider than the boys, who looked at both images for an equal time.
The researchers concluded that the young girls were confused as to why someone would be happy to be twinned with a spider, and were quick to associate pictures of arachnids with fear.
The boys, it seems, remained totally indifferent emotionally.
Rakison attributes this "genetic predisposition" to "behavior inherent in our hunter-gatherer ancestors." Whether this tendency evolved or has been part of the genetic makeup of the sexes since "creation" is a matter of an on-going disagreement. Whatever the case, the good news for men is, it doesn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon.
"If there's a spider in your bath/ Phone me up and I'll just laugh."- from the 2001 song Finishing Credits by the Scottish band the Supernaturals.
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