Horror movies account for one of the most controversial types of entertainment out there. Some people cannot get enough of them, while others would prefer to never watch a single one. To help clear up some of the facts around the psychology behind horror movies, Martin (2019) wrote a review that aimed to be “the first synthesis of the empirical literature on the psychology of horror film using multi-disciplinary research from psychology, psychotherapy, communication studies, development studies, clinical psychology, and media studies”.
The review, which examined nearly 200 relevant academic studies, made the following conclusions:
- Low empathy and fearfulness are correlated with increased desire to watch horror and increased enjoyment from watching horror
- Some dimensions of empathy are better than others at predicting people’s responses to horror movies, but they are “inconsistently predictive”
- People with higher empathetic concern and personal distress are less likely to enjoy horror involving torture
- There is a positive but inconsistent relationship between sensation seeking and horror enjoyment/preference
- Compared to women and girls, men and boys enjoy and seek out horror more
- When watching horror movies, women and girls report more fear and anxiety than men and boys, which “may be attributable to women’s typical higher disgust sensitivity and anxiety proneness”
- Disgust sensitivity may be related to horror enjoyment and preference in general
- Younger children are more afraid of symbolic elements whereas older children are more afraid of concrete/realistic elements
- Preliminary evidence suggests that people like horror less and less as they age
- Children who experience fear from horror movies use a variety of coping mechanisms to overcome that fear, with varying degrees of success depending on the child’s age (physical coping mechanisms are more successful in younger children)
- Priming children with information about the fear-causing object in a movie reduces fear and increases enjoyment for the children watching that movie
- The presence of threatening stimuli amplifies the startle reflex
- Further research is needed into the neuropsychological underpinnings of people’s responses to horror movies, which are expected to involve the amygdala
Wrapping up
While there has been a lot of research into some of the emotional aspects of viewing horror films, there is a lack of research on the neuropsychological concepts behind horror film enjoyment. You do not have to take my word for it, though. If you want to learn much more about the topic and verify the facts for yourself, you can read the full article for yourself right here without needing to sign up for anything at all. I would recommend doing this any time you read a summary of academic research, since it is always best to get information directly from the source.
References
Martin, G.N. (2019). (Why) Do You Like Scary Movies? A Review of the Empirical Research on Psychological Responses to Horror Films. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(1), 2298. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298.
