ABSTRACT
Anxiety has a bad name. No one wants to be anxious; parents try not to raise anxious children; teachers are warned against arousing anxiety; psychotherapists are well paid for their efforts to alleviate irrational fear; and millions of tranquilizers are consumed each day to reduce tension and anxiety. Yet, from an evolutionary viewpoint, anxiety must have some functional value for it to have evolved as an inherent response potential in the human species.
