Vanessa Woods\u2019 latest research didn’t begin in a laboratory or during fieldwork. It began at home, with her own children.<\/p>\n
While her son eagerly embraced mud, insects and outdoor exploration, her daughter gravitated toward more structured natural settings, preferring gardens and manicured landscapes.<\/p>\n
Their experiences led Woods, a research scientist in Duke\u2019s\u00a0 Evolutionary Anthropology<\/a>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?<\/p>\n Their findings<\/a>, published Oct. 30 in Frontiers in Psychology<\/em> and supported by the John Templeton Foundation<\/a>, challenge the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that humans possess an innate and universal affinity for nature. Instead, the researchers found evidence suggesting that affinity to nature may function more like a temperament trait, with substantial variation among children.<\/p>\n To test this idea, the team studied 295 children ages 3 to 13 at the North Carolina Zoo<\/a> and the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary<\/a> in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Participants completed assessments measuring children\u2019s fear of animals (biophobia) and biodiversity preferences across a range of scenarios, including gardens, wildlife encounters and travel destinations.<\/p>\n One of the study\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, we found this fear could coexist with an attraction to the natural world in general,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n The results suggest that attraction to biodiversity and aversion to specific creatures<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Woods said. \u201cSo it didn’t really affect their attraction to biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers also observed substantial variation among children, with some consistently drawn to biodiverse settings<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n The findings have implications for conservation, environmental education and public engagement. Efforts to cultivate connections with nature often assume that all children respond similarly to biodiversity. This study suggests a more individualized approach may be needed, one that recognizes variation in children’s natural interests, preferences and comfort levels.<\/p>\n Woods says the next step is to help children understand the importance of the natural world around them through educational programs. She is in talks with Duke Gardens<\/a> to study children\u2019s reactions to its different levels of biodiversity.<\/p>\n She points to the Blomquist native plant garden, which is extremely biodiverse and naturalistic, and the Discovery Garden, which is highly curated and has everything mapped out.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’d be really interesting just to see where kids go and what they’re attracted to, and how they interact with different things that they’re afraid of or nervous about.\u201d<\/p>\n Kavanah Anderson, director of learning and community engagement at Duke Gardens, is looking forward to the insights that will come from this project, and to applying them to the Gardens learning activities.<\/p>\n “We see the wonder on students’ faces and hear the excitement in their voices when they make learning connections, she says. \u201cWe also see fear eased by understanding, as students learn that they can safely get close enough to pollinating bees to see the pollen baskets on their legs or the details of their compound eyes.”<\/p>\n For Woods, the results offer a nuanced perspective on children’s relationships with the natural world.<\/p>\n \u201cDon’t give up on your kid because they are terrified of one forest creature,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is still room for wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n