Automatonophobia
Automatonophobia is a specific phobia and irrational fear of mannequins, dolls, animatronics, and anything that looks like human-like figures.[1] This is possibly caused by the uncanny valley, since mannequins and dolls look human but are not human and have a distinct face that looks human but doesn't and rather triggers the uncanny valley.[2][3]
This phobia is related to glenophobia, which is the fear of dolls, also known as pediophobia or simply the fear of dolls.[1]
Etymology
The term automatonophobia comes from the Ancient Greek word αὐτο (autó) which means self and ματος (matono) which means thinking, willing, or animated and φοβία (phobía) which means fear.[1][not in citation given]
Description
Automatonophobia is triggered by mannequins, dolls, animatronics, and anything that looks like human-like figures. Automatonophobia is an uncommon fear but it is rapidly becoming pretty common due to artificial intelligence becoming as lifelike as a human.[1][unreliable source?]
Automatonophobia is deeply related to the Uncanny valley although the uncanny valley happens to anyone, even if they don't have automatonophobia since the brain gets confused and struggles to tell if it is human or not with Wax figures or mannequins but people with automatonophobia, the uncanny valley will possibly make the person get panic attacks rather than a fright response.[1][4]
Causes
Learned behaviors can be the cause of it but the uncanny valley is mostly the cause of automatonophobia since the brain is trying to process what the wax figure could be if it is human or fake which the brain then gets confused and struggles to process what it is.[1][4][5]
Treatment
Exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be helpful treatments with virtual reality therapy.[2]
See also
- List of phobias
- Fear of dolls
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 White, Tedd (2026-01-01). "Understanding Automatonophobia - Why We Fear the Almost Human -". Retrieved 2026-10-20.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 McHugh, Shannon V. (2025-08-31). "What Is Automatonophobia? How Is It Treated?". E-Counseling.com. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
- ↑ Sinister, Bucky (2006-08-28). "Q-500 Experiment: Puppet Terror!". KQED. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Mannequin Phobia: Understanding the Fear of Human-Like Objects and Animatronics". NeuroLaunch.com. 2025-05-11. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
- ↑ Saade, Celine (2022-10-12). "Automatonophobia (Fear of Human-Like Figures)". findyourtherapy.org. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
External links
The dictionary definition of automatonophobia at Wiktionary
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