14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers have wondered for a long time why people go out on Halloween night and search for scary thrills, such as horror movies, nasty costumes, haunted houses and so on. A new study throws some more light on this behavior.
The investigation determined that most people search for these spine-chilling effects precisely because they work. In other words, most individuals look for thrills they now for certain will affect them.
“People go to horror films because they want to be frightened, or they wouldn't do it twice. You choose your entertainment because you want it to affect you,” says expert Jeffrey Goldstein.
He is a professor of social and organizational psychology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and also the editor of the book Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment (Oxford University Press, 1998).
“You choose your entertainment because you want it to affect you. That's certainly true of people who go to entertainment products like horror films that have big effects. They want those effects,” he says.
One of the main reasons why people always come back for more is that they know they are in no real danger, explains the dean of the University of Utah College of Social and Behavioral Science, David Rudd.
But most enjoy feeling scared out of their boots, and experiencing the adrenaline rush associated with this, the expert adds. There is no risk associated with these activities, and this makes it even more exciting to many, LiveScience reports.
The researchers also reveal the mechanisms through which real fear form. They say that the feeling appears when people are unable to gauge a threat correctly. They respond to stimuli disproportionately, and this is actual fear.
“The experience of 'real' fear is when the appraisal of threat is greater than safety. People that are afraid of flying appraise the threat of a crash in an unrealistic and disproportionate fashion, since it's actually safer than driving. As a result of the faulty appraisal, they experience fear,” Rudd says.
This is also one of the main reasons why children are a lot more likely to be scared of things than adults are. The young ones don't yet have the necessary experience to gauge the threat level of common objects and situations, and perceive them as highly dangerous.
When Halloween comes, the costumes, lights and spooky sounds that permeate the air may become really scare for young children, who tend to take them very seriously.
Also, kids can forget that they are watching just a movie, and get so immersed in the experience that they become truly afraid of what's on screen, and not just thrilled, like everyone else.