Safety behavior plays an important role in the maintenance of anxiety disorders

Research has shown that it maintains threat perceptions to stimuli that have been previously paired with an unpleasant event.

This experiment showed that safety behavior also maintains threat beliefs to an objectively safe stimulus that has never been paired with an unpleasant event.

This may be a possible mechanism for the origin of biased threat beliefs, superstitious behavior, and irrational fear.

It is also practically relevant: safety behavior reduces actual danger, but in relatively safe situations, its potential costs may outweigh potential benefits.