If a parent is fearful of or dislikes snakes, it is likely that this will result in a fear or dislike of snakes in his or her children. Children learn much of their gender and moral behavior by observing other people - parents are important models, but also others such as day care workers (Bandura 1977, Mischel 1970). Parents have great influence in the development of their children's attitudes toward specific objects and conceptions of appropriate behavior in a given situation (Berger and Thompson 1996).
Teachers also affect the development of an individual's beliefs, attitudes and behaviors toward wildlife, including snakes. Teachers convey wildlife knowledge to students, and often expose students to animals in the classroom. However, as Siemer et al. (1987) found, close to half (43.5%) of their preschool to grade 12 teacher respondents expressed fear in handling a snake, though 85% indicated they were tolerant of having the animals physically close to them. This fear of snakes may be transmitted to students who may, in turn, develop fearful attitudes. Many teachers also lack knowledge about basic wildlife concepts and thus, are unable to transmit such knowledge and understanding to their students (Taylor and Samuel 1975).
Friends can also influence a person's attitudes and behaviors toward snakes. First, people choose friends based on commonalities to surround themselves with individuals that hold similar characteristics such as gender and interestes (Hartup 1989). Second, to maintain a network of peers, people have a tendency to change their traits to more closely match those of friends, and a person is less likely to hold and attitude or view that is radically different than that of his or her network (Heider 1958). This is especially relevant for children as they get older because they become increasingly dependent on their peers, not only for companionship but also for self-validation (Nelson-Le Gall and Gumerman 1984). If peers in an individual's network, especially dominant peers, dislike or fear snakes, an individual may adopt this "accepted" attitude toward snakes rather than risk rejection or being ostracized.
Encounters with snakes in the wild, generally unplanned and unexpected experiences, can vary from being pleasant to neutral or unrecognized to being startling or scary. Due to the fast and sudden movements undertaken by children outdoors, an initial encounter with a snake may come as a surprise for both child and snake. Such experiences may certainly influence attitudes toward snakes; however, studies of snake phobia (i.e. ophidiophobia) indicate that such direct experiences account for < 10% of reported cases (Davey 1992, Murray and Foote 1979).
References
Bandura, A. 1977. Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Berger, K. S. and R. A. Thompson. 1996. The developing person through childhood. New York: Worth Publishers.
Davey, G. C. L. 1992. Characteristics of individuals with fear of spiders. Anxiety Research 4:299-314.
Hartup, W. W. 1989. Social relationships and their developmental significance. American Psychologist 44:120-126.
Heider, F. 1958. The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.
Mischel, W. 1970. "Sex typing and socialization." In Carmichael's manual of child development, Volume 2, edited by P. H. Mussen. New York: Wiley.
Murray, E. J. and F. Foote. 1979. The origins of fear of snakes. Behaviour Research and Therapy 17:489-493.
Nelson-Le Gall, S. A. and R. A. Gumerman. 1984. Children's perceptions of helpers and helper motivation. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 5:1-12.
Siemer, W. F., R. B. Peyton, and D. J. Witter. 1987. Teachers' attitudes toward animals: implications for conservation education. Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 52:460-467.
Taylor, S. E. and D. E. Samuel. 1975. Wildlife knowledge and attitudes of public school teachers. Proceedings of the Conference of the Southeastern Association of Game and Fish Commissions 29:759-765.