GAZETTE FUTURE, Vol. 8 No. 3, 2025.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32779/gf.8.3.1
Attitudes and perceptions about insect phobia
Boris Dorbić
; bdorbic@unist.hr
*
Lucija Dorbić Jurlin
; Studentica studija I-ciklusa Psihologija i Sociologija, Nastavnički fakultet, Univerzitet Džmal Bijedić u Mostaru, Bosna i Hercegovina
Denisa Žujo Zekić
; Nastavnički fakultet, Univerzitet Džmal Bijedić u Mostaru, Bosna i Hercegovina
Esved Kajtaz
; Nastavnički fakultet, Univerzitet Džmal Bijedić u Mostaru, Bosna i Hercegovina
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are common among the population, and phobias are one of the types of these disorders. Most adults and children have an inexplicable fear of insects (entomophobia), and regardless of the aforementioned insects serve as food for billions of people around the world. In our country, such a practice has only been used recently and is taken with a grain of salt. In order to eliminate the fear of insects, it is necessary to inform children about them from a young age. In addition to the theoretical framework, the paper used a survey to examine perceptions and attitudes about phobias towards insects. The research was conducted in the second half of 2025. Fifty respondents participated in the survey. The results showed that the respondents have a moderately strong phobia towards cockroaches and hornets, a moderate phobia towards 3 species and a weak phobia towards the other 14 insects. They expressed a moderate phobia towards their own potential breeding of insects and towards potential diseases caused by insects. They would not use insects for food, jewelry, or as dyes for clothing and footwear. The paper provides original results and a contribution to the entomological and pedagogical professions regarding insect phobias and can be used as an example for some similar research.
Keywords
insects, phobia, attitudes and perceptions, use, entomology.
Hrčak ID:
350228
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2025.
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