What is the psychology behind people’s phobias?
THE DEFINITION of a phobia is an extreme irrational fear, and it’s something many people are burdened by. In terms of psychology, this definition becomes more specific – a debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling, or animal that is not in proportion to the level of threat it poses (therefore, irrational). A lot of people don’t understand why they have phobias which frustrate them and hinder their everyday lives; but it is explainable within psychology, as well as the key to overcoming them.
In 1960, psychologist Mowrer invented the two-process model, dictating that phobias originated from classical conditioning and were maintained by operant conditioning. The former involves learning by association – you associate an originally neutral stimulus (for example, a dog) with an unconditioned response (fear) after experiencing a traumatic event linking an unconditioned stimulus (eg: pain) together with the dog. This neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned one, because it evokes a now conditioned response of fear. This fear is then generalised to other similar stimuli, such as a toy dog or a wolf.
A research study which delved into classical conditioning actually involved dogs – Pavlov, in the 1890s, experimented with classically conditioning dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. He would present the dog with food (neutral stimulus), which would evoke the unconditioned response of salivation. Whenever food was brought out, a bell (initially an unconditioned stimulus not meant to cause salivation) would be rung
. With time, the dogs slowly began to associate the sound of the bell with food, so henceforth the bell became a conditioned stimulus, causing the dogs to salivate (now a conditioned response). This is the same principle of association that can be applied to the creation of a phobia in human beings.
Operant conditioning is the continuation of these fears, explaining why phobias are often long-lasting despite responses of classical conditioning disappearing over time. This part of the two-process model involves the reinforcement of our fearful behaviour as it is rewarded. In the case of phobias, negative reinforcement comes into play – the act of avoiding the phobic stimulus rewards the person with a sense of relief from anxiety and fear of said phobic stimulus, and therefore this avoidant behaviour will be repeated (reinforced). The reduction of fear using avoidance as a behavioural technique therefore maintains the phobia.
Now although these psychological factors seem like a continuous loop that’s impossible to break out of and overcome fear, there have been successful treatments that have achieved exactly this. Standardised desensitisation involves gradual exposure to the phobia. The client with the phobia creates an “anxiety hierarchy”, listing situations involving the phobic stimulus from least to most frightening.
They are then placed in a relaxed state through meditation or breathing exercises (this is known as “reciprocal inhibition”, as it is impossible to be relaxed and scared simultaneously). Finally, the client is exposed to the situations on the hierarchy they created, from least to most frightening, taking place across several sessions and eventually reaching success when the client is relaxed at the top of their hierarchy.
A more extreme version of this treatment (less recommended by psychologists and therapists due to its extremely stressful nature) is called flooding, taking place in as little as one session as this involves immediate exposure to a frightening situation with the phobic stimulus. This process is called “extinction”, because without the option to avoid the phobia, the client quickly learns that all is well.
If reader have a family member, a friend or even if they themself possess an irrational fear, it is strongly encouraged to learn from this psychological approach, and maybe even conduct treatment. Phobias can be a hindrance to everyday life; and in order to fulfil a life free from unnecessary burden, this is one of the first and the easiest steps to take.
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