<p>It's probably not a fear response. Young animals (and human children) sometimes lack it in some contexts. See the controversy with the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151022-where-does-our-fear-of-snakes-come-from" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fear of snakes in children</a>.</p>

<p>Looking at a two similar videos <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=559fJFACtN0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">lioness vs impala calf</a> of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYRvzk4l-HI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">young lion vs oryx calf</a> however, besides some moments of confusion of the calfs, they do one of two things: face the predator head on (which would work if they had grown horns) or try to suddenly sprint away, which is again not easy for the them to pull off being so young.</p>

<p>So it is a mixture of fight, flight, and probably some confusion as well. There's this notion of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness" rel="nofollow noreferrer">learned helplessness</a> but it's a bit of stretch to apply it to any of those videos, in my opinion.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-23T13:23:38.720Z
That’s interesting and I hadn’t considered that. However I’ve seen similar encounters where the impala runs away and we could assume that is a FEAR (as opposed to a PLAY) response. Then there’s this from Isaac Marks where he describes submission as a fear response: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jts.2490020111 Would I be on shaky ground if I were to propose a 4th response, namely FOLD? This could account for submission (as per above) and I would propose Stockholm Syndrome in humans. I’m interested in whether this generalises to obedience before power, eg in the workplace.
Nick H
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-25T07:21:18.763Z
@NickH - I am sorry that I have not had the time yet to put a full answer together, and it looks like I won't have much time until the beginning of next week. But in response to your addition of fold, there are 5 responses in the "fight-flight" response. That's Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Faint. The last is sometimes referred to as flop and sometimes fright. [I have often referred to it in answers here as the 5F response](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/search?q=5f+response)
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T11:17:18.917Z
Brilliant Chris thank you - exactly the kind of answer I was looking for 
Nick H
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T11:20:07.537Z
@ChrisRogers: what is "fawn" supposed to mean in this context? Because the calfs clearly aren't fainting...
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T11:29:42.470Z
@ChrisRogers: https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/83999/are-there-five-common-fear-responses-in-animals
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T11:53:00.547Z
@Fizz - "Fawn" is the response of complying with the attacker to save yourself. See https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/trauma/fight-flight-freeze-how-to-recognize-it-and-what-to-do-when-it-happens
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-21T21:27:27.130Z
2019-04-24T07:38:03.057Z
2019-04-24T07:38:03.057Z
got trolled too much this week
<p>In this video the baby impala does not seem to be exhibiting the classic fear responses of Fight, Flight or Freeze.</p>

<p>Which fear response is this?</p>

<p><a href="https://youtu.be/qWXBNFLUD3A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/qWXBNFLUD3A</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-22T07:22:06.513Z
The actions in the YouTube video are not the actions of a fear response. The impala possibly could have been playing as suggested in the caption. Some fears are innate whilst some are learnt. Sometimes fear can be completely removed. I will try and put together more of an answer later today.
Chris Rogers
<emotion>
What do you call this fear response?
Nick H
# What do you call this fear response?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-21)

In this video the baby impala does not seem to be exhibiting the classic fear responses of Fight, Flight or Freeze.

Which fear response is this?

<https://youtu.be/qWXBNFLUD3A>

**Tags:** emotion

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The actions in the YouTube video are not the actions of a fear response. The impala possibly could have been playing as suggested in the caption. Some fears are innate whilst some are learnt. Sometimes fear can be completely removed. I will try and put together more of an answer later today.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-04-21. Score: 0

It's probably not a fear response. Young animals (and human children) sometimes lack it in some contexts. See the controversy with the [fear of snakes in children](http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151022-where-does-our-fear-of-snakes-come-from).

Looking at a two similar videos [lioness vs impala calf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=559fJFACtN0) of [young lion vs oryx calf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYRvzk4l-HI) however, besides some moments of confusion of the calfs, they do one of two things: face the predator head on (which would work if they had grown horns) or try to suddenly sprint away, which is again not easy for the them to pull off being so young.

So it is a mixture of fight, flight, and probably some confusion as well. There's this notion of [learned helplessness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness) but it's a bit of stretch to apply it to any of those videos, in my opinion.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: That’s interesting and I hadn’t considered that. However I’ve seen similar encounters where the impala runs away and we could assume that is a FEAR (as opposed to a PLAY) response. Then there’s this from Isaac Marks where he describes submission as a fear response: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jts.2490020111 Would I be on shaky ground if I were to propose a 4th response, namely FOLD? This could account for submission (as per above) and I would propose Stockholm Syndrome in humans. I’m interested in whether this generalises to obedience before power, eg in the workplace.  
> **username_1**: @NickH - I am sorry that I have not had the time yet to put a full answer together, and it looks like I won't have much time until the beginning of next week. But in response to your addition of fold, there are 5 responses in the "fight-flight" response. That's Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Faint. The last is sometimes referred to as flop and sometimes fright. [I have often referred to it in answers here as the 5F response](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/search?q=5f+response)  
> **username_0**: Brilliant Chris thank you - exactly the kind of answer I was looking for   
> **username_2**: @ChrisRogers: what is "fawn" supposed to mean in this context? Because the calfs clearly aren't fainting...  
> **username_2**: @ChrisRogers: https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/83999/are-there-five-common-fear-responses-in-animals  
> **username_1**: @Fizz - "Fawn" is the response of complying with the attacker to save yourself. See https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/trauma/fight-flight-freeze-how-to-recognize-it-and-what-to-do-when-it-happens  

---

