This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Vanessa Woods' latest research didn't begin in a laboratory or during fieldwork. It began at home, with her own children.
While her son eagerly embraced mud, insects and outdoor exploration, her daughter gravitated toward more structured natural settings, preferring gardens and manicured landscapes. Their experiences led Woods, a research scientist in Duke's evolutionary anthropology department, and her colleagues to investigate a longstanding question in human behavioral science: Is attraction to biodiversity a universal human tendency, or does it vary among individuals? Their findings, published Oct. 30 in Frontiers in Psychology, challenge the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that humans possess an innate and universal affinity for nature.
Instead, the researchers found evidence suggesting that affinity for nature may function more like a temperament trait, with substantial variation among children. To test this idea, the team studied 295 children ages 3 to 13 at the North Carolina Zoo and the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Participants completed assessments measuring children's fear of animals (biophobia) and biodiversity preferences across a range of scenarios, including gardens, wildlife encounters and travel destinations.
One of the study's most unexpected findings was that fear and attraction were not opposites. Children who reported fears of spiders, snakes, beetles and other animals were often just as interested in biodiverse environments as children who expressed little fear. "Instead, we found this fear could coexist with an attraction to the natural world in general," Woods said.
The results suggest that attraction to biodiversity and aversion to specific creatures may represent distinct psychological systems. From an evolutionary perspective, this pattern could let children stay curious about natural environments while remaining cautious about potential threats. "We found that kids who were scared of spiders were just as likely to invite a group of insects that included butterflies and all sorts of beetles into their yard," Woods said.
"So it didn't really affect their attraction to biodiversity." The researchers also observed substantial variation among children, with some consistently drawn to biodiverse settings and others favoring more controlled environments. These differences emerged early in childhood and were evident across cultures, supporting the possibility that biophilia exists along a spectrum rather than as a universal trait shared equally by all people. The findings have implications for conservation, environmental education and public engagement.
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