Humans have Innate Fear of Things Approaching Them, Researchers Find

A new study found that modern humans still have negative reactions towards things that are moving towards them when compared to things that are moving away.

Over the course of evolution, humans learned to be wary of things that were approaching than things that were going in another direction. Researchers found that the fear of being approached by people or things continues to affect modern humans.

University of Chicago Booth School of Business Professor Christopher K. Hsee said that human are scared of things or people approaching towards them, even if the said things are non-threatening. Researchers said that "approach avoidance," is actually an innate tendency.

For the study, researchers conducted eight tests and found that people were scared of harmless objects if they moved towards the participants.

"In order to survive, humans have developed a tendency to guard against animals, people and objects that come near them," Hsee explained. "This is true for things that are physically coming closer, but also for events that are approaching in time or increasing in likelihood."

Researchers said that their study could help marketers place their products in such a way that the object doesn't create a fear or loathing in people. Public speakers who choose to get too close to their audience during a talk might also reconsider taking a few steps back to avoid generating a negative reaction in the audience, researchers said.

"Approach avoidance is a general tendency, humans don't seem to adequately distinguish between times they should use it and when they should not," Hsee added in a news release. "They tend to fear approaching things and looming events even if objectively they need not fear."

The study is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.