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3 psychological reasons we enjoy being scared out of our minds
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Feeling rewarded
According to a 2008 study, dopamine is responsible for feelings of accomplishment and rewards, but it's also been linked to averse emotions like fear and dread.
People who enjoy fearful or risky situations tend to get more out of being scared out of their wits because they end up with higher levels of dopamine. Adrenaline, which is also released during dangerous moments, is also perceived as enjoyable by some.
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It can bring people together
We build a special closeness with those we are with when we're in an excited or scared state.
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The right kind of fear
The fun of Halloween is that you can experience the thrill of fear without any real threat.
It's all about triggering the fight-or-flight response to experience the flood of adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine, but in a completely safe space.
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Primary factors that make horror films alluring
- Tension - Generated by suspense, mystery, terror, shock and gore.
- Relevance - The horror film may relate to personal relevance, cultural meaningfulness, the fea...
Viewing motivators for horror movies
- Gore watchers typically have low empathy, high sensation seeking, and a strong identification with the killer.
- Thrill watchers typically have both high empathy and sensation seeking;they identify themselves more with the victims and like the suspense of the film.
- Independent watchers typically have a high empathy for the victim along with a high positive effect for overcoming fear.
- Problem watchers typically have high empathy for the victim but are characterized by negative effect (particularly a sense of helplessness).
Theories on why we love to watch horror films
- Dr. Carl Jung believed horror films “tapped into primordial archetypes buried deep in our collective subconscious – images like shadow and mother play important role in the horror genre”.
- Horror films are watched as a way of purging negative emotions and/or as a way to relieve pent-up aggression.
- Horror movies are enjoyed because the people on screen getting killed deserve it.
- Cultural historian David Skal has argued that horror films simply reflect our societal fears.
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Reasons for enjoying or hating scary movies
- Sensation seeking individuals may enjoy scary movies because it will elevate the heart rate and make the body feel as though it needs to expend energy.
- Highly sensitive peopl...
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The Horror Movie
Horror is a genre that has a reputation of being a low, somewhat trashy, titillating genre that appeals to our basest instincts.
"Its also a wonderful, popular art form through which...
For a work to be classified as horror...
... it has to have a monster, which has to be threatening in some way. The monster is often otherworldly or violates the laws of nature, as in Alien or Jaws—but some argue that a human character can be a monster, as in Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and Halloween.
The monster generally is otherworldly or violates the laws of nature and is designed to elicit disgust as an emotion.
"The beast within"
This is the most popular theory explaining the genre’s popularity and it argues that an unconscious, repressed part of every human is actually savage; that the veneer of civility is very thin, and beneath that is essentially a monster.
Although we consciously disapprove of what the monster is doing, deep down part of us enjoys seeing the murder and mayhem the monster unleashes—because if we could, we would do that.