Sarah Kollat: Fall for me as a teenager meant football games, homecoming dresses – and haunted houses. My friends organized group trips to the local fairgrounds, where sheds were turned into halls of horror, and masked men with (chainless) chainsaws pinched our ankles as we waited in line, anticipating deeper fears to follow once we got inside.
I’m not the only one who likes a good scare. Halloween attraction company America Haunts estimates that Americans spend more than $500 million annually on entrance fees to haunted houses simply for the privilege of being scared. And many scare fans don’t limit their horror entertainment to spooky season, devouring horror movies, shows and books all year long.
To some people, this preoccupation with horror may seem tone-deaf. School shootings, child abuse, war – the list of real-life horrors is endless. Why would we seek manufactured fear for entertainment when the world offers real terror in such large quantities?
As a developmental psychologist who also writes dark thrillers, I find the intersection of psychology and fear intriguing. To explain what drives this fascination with fear, I point to the theory that emotions evolved as a universal experience in humans because they help us survive.
Fear can feel good
Controlled fear experiences—where you can click your remote, close the book, or leave the haunted house whenever you want—provide the physiological high that fear produces, without any real risk.
When you feel threatened, the adrenaline in your body rises and the evolutionary fight-or-flight response is activated. Your heart rate increases, you breathe deeper and faster and your blood pressure increases. Your body prepares to defend itself against the danger or get away as quickly as possible.
This physical response is crucial when there is a real threat. When you experience controlled fear – like jump scares in a zombie TV show – you can enjoy this energetic sensation, similar to a runner’s high, without any risk. And then, once the threat has been dealt with, your body releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which produces feelings of pleasure and relief.
In one studyResearchers found that people who visited a high-intensity haunted house as a controlled fear experience showed less brain activity in response to stimuli and less fear after exposure. This finding suggests that exposing yourself to horror movies, scary stories, or exciting video games can actually calm you down afterwards. The effect might also explain why my husband and I choose to relax by watching zombie shows after a busy day at work.
The ties that bind
An essential motivation for people is the feeling of belonging to a social group. According to the surgeon general, Americans who lack these connections are caught in an epidemic of loneliness, putting people at risk for mental and physical health problems.
Going through intense experiences of fear together strengthens the bonds between individuals. Good examples include veterans who served together in combat, survivors of natural disasters, and the “families” formed in groups of first responders.
I am a volunteer firefighter and the unique bond that comes from sharing intense threats, such as entering a burning building together, manifests itself in deep emotional bonds with my colleagues. After a significant fire call, we often notice the improved morale and camaraderie of the fire station. Every time I think about my firefighting partners, I feel a flood of positive emotions, even if the events happened months or years ago.
Controlled fear experiences artificially create similar opportunities for bonding. Exposure to stress triggers not only the fight-or-flight response, but also what psychologists call the “tend-and-befriend” system in many situations.
A perceived threat prompts people to care for offspring and create social-emotional bonds for protection and comfort. This system is largely regulated by the so-called ‘love hormone’ oxytocin.
The tend-and-befriend response is especially likely when you experience stress around others with whom you have already established positive social bonds.
When you encounter stressors within your social network, your oxytocin levels rise to initiate social coping strategies. The result is that when you navigate a recreational fear experience with friends, such as a haunted house, you set the emotional stage to feel connected to the people next to you.
An ounce of prevention = a pound of cure
Controlled fear experiences can also be a way to prepare for the worst. Remember the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the films “Contagion” and “Outbreak” were popular on streaming platforms as people around the world sheltered at home. By watching threat scenarios play out in a controlled manner through the media, you can learn about your fears and prepare yourself emotionally for future threats.
For example, researchers at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark showed in one study that people who regularly consumed horror media during the COVID-19 pandemic were more psychologically resilient than non-horror fans.
The scientists suggest that this resilience could be the result of some kind of training these fans underwent: they practiced coping with the fear and anxiety caused by their favorite form of entertainment. As a result, they were better prepared to deal with the real fear caused by the pandemic.
When I’m not teaching, I am an avid reader of crime fiction. I also write psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Sarah K. Stephens. As both a reader and a writer, I notice similar themes in the books I’m drawn to, all of which tap into my own deep-seated fears: mothers abandoning their children in some way, women manipulated into submission, lots of misogynistic antagonists.
I enjoy writing and reading about my fears – and seeing the bad guys get their comeuppance in the end – because it gives me a way to control the story. Consuming these stories allows me to mentally rehearse how I would handle these types of circumstances if they manifested in my real life.
Survive and thrive
In the case of controlled fear experiences, scaring yourself is a crucial technique to help you survive and adapt in a frightening world. By generating powerful, positive emotions, strengthening social networks, and preparing for your worst fears, you’ll be better able to embrace each day to the fullest.
So the next time you’re choosing between an upbeat comedy and a creepy thriller for your movie night, choose the dark side: it’s good for your health.
Sarah Kollat, professor of psychology, Penn State
This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
