Leibovich-Raveh Tali, Gish Moshe
Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Insects. 2022 Jun 18;13(6):555. doi: 10.3390/insects13060555.
In many human societies, domestic insect pests often evoke feelings of disgust, fear and aversion. These common feelings may translate to increased use of household pesticides. No study has ever explored this possibility and consequently, efforts to mitigate public exposure to domestic pesticides typically focus on addressing knowledge gaps. We tested the hypothesis that negative emotions toward insects may motivate people to use pesticides, by interviewing 70 participants and assessing their insect aversion levels using a computerized test. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no effect of insect aversion on pesticide use. However, we did find that personal attributes and preferences such as wishing to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals, being vegetarian and taking frequent nature walks reduced pesticide use, in addition to low infestation levels and physical attributes of the housing unit. We emphasize the importance of conducting future studies in various societies, where insect aversion and other factors may have different effects on household pesticide use. Such studies may provide culture-specific insights that could foster the development of next-generation urban IPM (Integrated Pest Management) public education programs, which will address not only knowledge gaps, but also emotional aspects and personal attributes that lead to unnecessary or excessive use of household pesticides.
在许多人类社会中，家庭害虫常常引发厌恶、恐惧和反感的情绪。这些常见情绪可能会转化为家庭杀虫剂使用量的增加。以往没有研究探讨过这种可能性，因此，减轻公众接触家用杀虫剂的努力通常集中在填补知识空白上。我们通过采访70名参与者并使用计算机化测试评估他们对昆虫的厌恶程度，来检验对昆虫的负面情绪可能促使人们使用杀虫剂这一假设。与我们的假设相反，我们发现对昆虫的厌恶对杀虫剂使用没有影响。然而，我们确实发现，个人属性和偏好，如希望避免接触有毒化学物质、吃素以及经常进行户外散步，除了低虫害水平和住房单元的物理属性外，都会减少杀虫剂的使用。我们强调在不同社会开展未来研究的重要性，在这些社会中，对昆虫的厌恶和其他因素可能对家庭杀虫剂使用产生不同影响。此类研究可能会提供特定文化的见解，从而促进下一代城市综合虫害管理（IPM）公共教育项目的发展，这些项目不仅要解决知识空白，还要解决导致不必要或过度使用家用杀虫剂的情感方面和个人属性问题。
