Does Insect Aversion Lead to Increased Household Pesticide Use?

Abstract

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.

The Effect of Social Norms on Residential Insecticide Use

“…Following the methods of [35], I created separate index values for Exposure, Insecticide Use, and Tendency, which were based on the answers to the corresponding sections of the questionnaire. In a nutshell, for every question, each possible answer contributed a certain number of points to a total grade (index value) in each interview section.…”

“…Each index value ranged from 0 (low) to 12 (high). For a detailed explanation on how indices were calculated, see [35].…”

“…The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Haifa (042/22). In this study I used the questionnaire and a modified version of the aversion test used by Leibovich-Raveh and Gish [35].…”

“…Unlike the study conducted by Leibovich-Raveh and Gish [35], in which pictures of hands holding cockroaches were presented on a computer screen, in this study printed pictures were placed on cards (a total of 20 different pictures), which were presented to the participant in random order. Each participant was asked to rate the level of unpleasantness of each picture on a scale of 1-10.…”

“…In short, the questionnaire [35] consisted of three sections. The first section contained questions designed to assess indoor exposure to pests, here referred to as "Exposure".…”