A fear of dolls and a branch of automatonophobia, the fear of humanoid figures. There are many theories on how pediophobia is caused. Some of these include external events, heredity, and psychological tendencies. The most common theory is that a traumatic past experience is connected to the fear of dolls. Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori developed the uncanny valley hypothesis to provide another explanation for pediophobia.

A person with pediophobia would usually hide dolls or refuse to go near them. Symptoms of pediophobia include anxiety, trembling, inability to speak or think clearly, elevated heart rate, and breathlessness. In worse cases, the person will lose control, feeling of insanity, or a panic attack.