by Susan Miller
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 and supported by the John Templeton Foundation , 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.
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. 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.
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 to study children's reactions to its different levels of biodiversity.
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.
"I 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."
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.
"We see the wonder on students' faces and hear the excitement in their voices when they make learning connections, she says. "We 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."
For Woods, the results offer a nuanced perspective on children's relationships with the natural world.
"Don't give up on your kid because they are terrified of one forest creature," she said. "There is still room for wonder."
The paper , "Biophilia as a temperament trait, not universal - children's attraction and aversion to biodiversity across cultures," is by Vanessa Woods, Brian Hare, and Grainne Fitzsimons of Duke University, and Melinda Knuth of North Carolina State University.
