The official and medical name for people with a fear of strangers is Xenophobia. This not only covers people who have a fear of strangers, but also for people afraid of foreigners and other people different to themselves. Xeno means a guest or stranger and phobia means to have a fear.
A fear of people different to yourself does not only mean people that may be from a different culture, but they can be people who look very different to yourself, have a much higher level of confidence or somebody with entirely different views to what you believe in. People who speak in a different language or have strange habits are also feared by such people.
Xenophobia is more a state of mind than a decision that the sufferer has decided to make. It is hard coded into their brains and no matter how much they are told that the person they fear is okay to be around, they will never believe this and argue this fact right to the very hilt and will never give in.
There are many Xenophobics who not only suffer from this mentally, but can be vocal and act violently towards the people that they fear. They can lash out and cause harm due to their extreme fear. Most sufferers however are placid and do not expose their fears to other people and keep it only to themselves.
It is extremely common in tribes across the world for this fear to still show strongly, mainly because they aren’t as exposed to strangers as we are in the Western world. Tribes can fight to the death if they find each other too different.
The most well known bout of Xenophobia happened during Hitlers reign when he had extreme feelings towards Jews. They were gassed and killed, all because they were seen as being different. This was a very over the top view on things, but the feeling was strong and could not be overcome.
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