Fear

Part of a series on
Emotions
Affect Classification In animals Emotional intelligence Mood Self-regulation Interpersonal Dysregulation Valence
Emotions Acceptance Admiration Affection Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Awe Belongingness Boredom Confidence Confusion Contempt Contentment Courage Curiosity Depression Desire Determination Disappointment Disgust Distrust Doubt Ecstasy Elevation Embarrassment Emotional Detachment Empathy Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Faith Fear Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Interest Jealousy Joy Kindness Limerence Loneliness Love Lust Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Rejection Relief Remorse Resentment Sadness Saudade Schadenfreude Self-pity Shame Shock Shyness Social connection Sorrow Suffering Surprise Suspicion Trust Wonder Worry
v t e

Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Extreme cases of fear can trigger an immobilized freeze response. Fear in humans can occur in response to a present stimulus or anticipation of a future threat. Fear is involved in some mental disorders, particularly anxiety disorders.

In humans and other animals, fear is modulated by cognition and learning. Thus, fear is judged as rational and appropriate, or irrational and inappropriate. Irrational fears are phobias. Fear is closely related to the emotion anxiety, which occurs as the result of often future threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.^[1] The fear response serves survival and has been preserved throughout evolution.^[2] Even simple invertebrates display an emotion "akin to fear."^[3] Research suggests that fears are not solely dependent on their nature but also shaped by social relations and culture, which guide an individual's understanding of when and how to fear.^[4]