Anthropomorphobia

Anthropomorphobia is the fear of acknowledging non-human qualities we wish to consider only human. Anthropomorphobia is traditionally associated with anxiety responses to fictional animal characters displaying human behavior in works of fiction like The Secret of NIMH. However, with the development of androids and robots that mimic human behavior, the concept of anthropomorphobia has been adapted to include nonliving stimuli. The negative emotional response to nonhumans described in the Uncanny Valley concept is the general human response related to anthropomorphobia, but anthropomorphobics have emotional, behavioral and cognitive responses to nonhumans that last far beyond the original anthropomorphic stimulus. Anthropomorphobics report flashes of anxiety when recalling anthropomorphic stimuli, and generalized anxiety about their response to future anthropomorphic stimuli if they go to places where this stimulus might occur, such as theme parks or children's museums. This distinguishes the typical negative response expected by the Uncanny Valley from anthropomorphobia: a typical person might fear a human-acting nonhuman, but an anthropomorphobic "fears the fear", having anxiety responses about the possibility of potential anthropomorphic experiences in the future.

External links and references

 * Kozlovic, Anton Karl 2004).  HAL-o-phobia: Computer Horror in the Pre-1990 Popular Cinema. Sincronía, 2004 (1).