Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsExplanationsPersonal DifferencesTherapeutic Effects

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Explanations

Personal Differences

Therapeutic Effects

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Horror is one of the most enduringly popular film genres in many areas around the world.While many people willingly buy tickets to the latest release, in our daily lives we often try to avoid anything that frightens us. So why would we pay to watch a movie that inducesfear and terror?

Here we explore several of the theories behind why people like horror movies. We also dive into who tends to gravitate toward movies designed to provoke feelings of fright, along with the ways in which these types of films can actually be therapeutic.

Vicarious Experiences and Threat Mastery

Horror scholar Mathias Clasen suggests that a tendency to love horror can be traced back to the constant danger our ancient ancestors experienced in the environments where they lived.Constant vigilance was required to avoid becoming the prey of a larger or more deadly animal.

These long-ago experiences have granted people a highly responsive, albeit mostly unconscious, threat detection system. Because horror movies do such a good job of simulating threatening situations, this meansour emotional responses to themare similar to those we’d experience if we encountered a real-life threat.

Because we don’t encounter real-life threats as often as ancient humans, going to horror films can be a novel experience that lets us put our innate threat detection system to use. This not only makes horror movies more attention-grabbing for audiences, but it also allows them to experience things like post-apocalypse, alien invasions, and the threat of an attacker in a safe environment.

In short, horror movies are a risk-free way to vicariously experience threats and rehearse one’s responses to those threats. Plus, after people get through a horror movie unscathed, they may feel a sense of accomplishment and mastery over the threat they’ve experienced,which then leads them tofeel more confidentin their ability to handle otheranxiety-provoking situations.

In our everyday lives, we don’t encounter scary situations all that often. But if we do encounter something threatening or dangerous, it attracts our attention.

Excitation Transfer Theory

More recent studies suggest that excitation transfer theory is still alive. One was published in 2017 and looked at permadeath (the idea that once a character dies in a video game, the game starts over from the beginning) in the survival-horror gameDayZ.It concluded that permadeath was appealing to players due to excitation transfer.

Exploring the Dark Side of Humanity

Other studies theorize that our enjoyment of horror movies comes from a morbid curiosity about subjects like death and terror, also referred to as the dark side of humanity. One piece of research found that people with higher levels of morbid curiosity are more likely to watch horror films, less likely to be scared after watching them, and generally watch these flicks alone.

According to this theory, horror movies let us vicariously explore thenature of evil, both in others and in ourselves. They also allow us to grapple with the darkest parts of humanity in a safe environment.

Not everyone enjoys horror movies. In fact, there are many who stay away from the genre as much as possible. Psychology has provided some insight into the individual differences that make someone more likely to enjoy horror films.

People Who Seek Sensations

Numerous studies have demonstrated that those high in the trait of sensation seeking tend to enjoy horror.Sensation seeking is the tendency to look fornovel, risky, or intense experiences. People high in this trait tend to experience positive emotions when they have intensely stimulating experiences, even if those experiences are negative.

High sensation seekers are wired to enjoy the stimulating experience of horror films in a way people low in this trait are not.

People With Lower Empathy Levels

Some researchers contend that our empathy toward a real person is not necessarily the same as the empathy we feel for a fictional character.The problem is that this is difficult to determine in studies, making it hard to know if and when true empathy occurs.

People Belonging to the Male Sex

In addition, females tend to be higher than males in the trait of disgust sensitivity.This could lead them to dislike horror movies that depict blood and gore.

This suggests that people who consume horror develop the ability to cope with stressful and anxiety-provoking situations.

While people who don’t enjoy horror may not find this beneficial, for those who like the genre, watching horror movies could be akin toexposure therapy. More research needs to be conducted to determine if this approach is effective and, if so, in what instances.

Why Do We Like Sad Things?

11 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Film Market.The relative popularity of genres around the world.Clasen M.Why horror seduces.Clasen M, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Johnson JA.Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media.Evol Behav Sci. 2020;14(3):213-230. doi:10.1037/ebs0000152Scrivner C, Johnson JA, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Clasen M.Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pers Individ Dif. 2021;168:110397. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397Martin GN.(Why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to horror films.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2298. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298Carter M, Allison F.Fear, loss and meaningful play: Permadeath inDayZ.J Gaming Virtual Worlds. 2017;9(2):143-158. doi:10.1386/jgvw.9.2.143_1Sanders A.Exploring the dark side of humanity: Motivations of morbidly curious individuals. Murray State University.Yang H, Zhang K.The psychology behind why we love (or hate) horror. Harvard Business Review.Petraschka T.How empathy with fictional characters differs from empathy with real persons.J Aesthet Art Criticism. 2021;79(2):227-232. doi:10.1093/jaac/kpab017Al-Shawaf L, Lewis D, Buss D.Sex differences in disgust: Why are women more easily disgusted than men?Emotion Rev. 2017;10(2):149-160. doi:10.1177/1754073917709940Scrivner C, Christensen K.Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7uh6f

11 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Film Market.The relative popularity of genres around the world.Clasen M.Why horror seduces.Clasen M, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Johnson JA.Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media.Evol Behav Sci. 2020;14(3):213-230. doi:10.1037/ebs0000152Scrivner C, Johnson JA, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Clasen M.Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pers Individ Dif. 2021;168:110397. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397Martin GN.(Why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to horror films.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2298. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298Carter M, Allison F.Fear, loss and meaningful play: Permadeath inDayZ.J Gaming Virtual Worlds. 2017;9(2):143-158. doi:10.1386/jgvw.9.2.143_1Sanders A.Exploring the dark side of humanity: Motivations of morbidly curious individuals. Murray State University.Yang H, Zhang K.The psychology behind why we love (or hate) horror. Harvard Business Review.Petraschka T.How empathy with fictional characters differs from empathy with real persons.J Aesthet Art Criticism. 2021;79(2):227-232. doi:10.1093/jaac/kpab017Al-Shawaf L, Lewis D, Buss D.Sex differences in disgust: Why are women more easily disgusted than men?Emotion Rev. 2017;10(2):149-160. doi:10.1177/1754073917709940Scrivner C, Christensen K.Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7uh6f

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Film Market.The relative popularity of genres around the world.Clasen M.Why horror seduces.Clasen M, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Johnson JA.Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media.Evol Behav Sci. 2020;14(3):213-230. doi:10.1037/ebs0000152Scrivner C, Johnson JA, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Clasen M.Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pers Individ Dif. 2021;168:110397. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397Martin GN.(Why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to horror films.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2298. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298Carter M, Allison F.Fear, loss and meaningful play: Permadeath inDayZ.J Gaming Virtual Worlds. 2017;9(2):143-158. doi:10.1386/jgvw.9.2.143_1Sanders A.Exploring the dark side of humanity: Motivations of morbidly curious individuals. Murray State University.Yang H, Zhang K.The psychology behind why we love (or hate) horror. Harvard Business Review.Petraschka T.How empathy with fictional characters differs from empathy with real persons.J Aesthet Art Criticism. 2021;79(2):227-232. doi:10.1093/jaac/kpab017Al-Shawaf L, Lewis D, Buss D.Sex differences in disgust: Why are women more easily disgusted than men?Emotion Rev. 2017;10(2):149-160. doi:10.1177/1754073917709940Scrivner C, Christensen K.Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7uh6f

American Film Market.The relative popularity of genres around the world.

Clasen M.Why horror seduces.

Clasen M, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Johnson JA.Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media.Evol Behav Sci. 2020;14(3):213-230. doi:10.1037/ebs0000152

Scrivner C, Johnson JA, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen J, Clasen M.Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pers Individ Dif. 2021;168:110397. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397

Martin GN.(Why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to horror films.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2298. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298

Carter M, Allison F.Fear, loss and meaningful play: Permadeath inDayZ.J Gaming Virtual Worlds. 2017;9(2):143-158. doi:10.1386/jgvw.9.2.143_1

Sanders A.Exploring the dark side of humanity: Motivations of morbidly curious individuals. Murray State University.

Yang H, Zhang K.The psychology behind why we love (or hate) horror. Harvard Business Review.

Petraschka T.How empathy with fictional characters differs from empathy with real persons.J Aesthet Art Criticism. 2021;79(2):227-232. doi:10.1093/jaac/kpab017

Al-Shawaf L, Lewis D, Buss D.Sex differences in disgust: Why are women more easily disgusted than men?Emotion Rev. 2017;10(2):149-160. doi:10.1177/1754073917709940

Scrivner C, Christensen K.Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7uh6f

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