(Why) Do You Like Scary Movies? A Review of the Empirical Research on Psychological Responses to Horror Films

Abstract

Why do we watch and like horror films? Despite a century of horror film making and entertainment, little research has examined the human motivation to watch fictional horror and how horror film influences individuals’ behavioral, cognitive, and emotional responses. This review provides 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 paper considers the motivations for people’s decision to watch horror, why people enjoy horror, how individual differences influence responses to, and preference for, horror film, how exposure to horror film changes behavior, how horror film is designed to achieve its effects, why we fear and why we fear specific classes of stimuli, and how liking for horror develops during childhood and adolescence. The literature suggests that (1) low empathy and fearfulness are associated with more enjoyment and desire to watch horror film but that specific dimensions of empathy are better predictors of people’s responses than are others; (2) there is a positive relationship between sensation-seeking and horror enjoyment/preference, but this relationship is not consistent; (3) men and boys prefer to watch, enjoy, and seek our horror more than do women and girls; (4) women are more prone to disgust sensitivity or anxiety than are men, and this may mediate the sex difference in the enjoyment of horror; (5) younger children are afraid of symbolic stimuli, whereas older children become afraid of concrete or realistic stimuli; and (6) in terms of coping with horror, physical coping strategies are more successful in younger children; priming with information about the feared object reduces fear and increases children’s enjoyment of frightening television and film. A number of limitations in the literature is identified, including the multifarious range of horror stimuli used in studies, disparities in methods, small sample sizes, and a lack of research on cross-cultural differences and similarities. Ideas for future research are explored.

Playing With Fear: A Field Study in Recreational Horror

“…Men have been found to engage in more dangerous forms of behavior (Tamás et al, 2019), and thus they may have become more habituated to frightening phenomena relative to women. Also in line with previous research (Hoffner & Levine, 2005; Martin, 2019), which has consistently found that men report higher liking of frightening entertainment, we found that men reported more enjoyment than women in a recreational horror setting. This finding may reflect a preference among men for engaging in thrill-seeking behavior and frightening and violent leisure activities (Martin, 2019), although other research has suggested that gender differences are reduced and in some studies nonsignificant when neutral measures, such as need for affect, are administered (Bartsch, Appel, & Storch, 2010).…”

“…Finally, our results demonstrate gender differences, with women reporting higher fear and lower enjoyment compared with men. Lower reported fear among men is not surprising in light of previous studies on horror (for a review, see Martin, 2019) and may be due to social desirability or past experience with frightening situations as part of stereotypical forms of play and entertainment. Men have been found to engage in more dangerous forms of behavior (Tamás et al, 2019), and thus they may have become more habituated to frightening phenomena relative to women.…”

“…In addition, researchers have engaged with the related phenomenon of extreme sports in an attempt to understand such forms of thrill-seeking behavior (Brymer, Feletti, Monasterio, & Schweitzer, 2020). Moreover, a spate of media-effects studies on horror films have contributed significantly to our understanding of the allure of frightening films (for reviews, see Hoffner & Levine, 2005; Martin, 2019). Such studies often focus on the role of trait sensation seeking, suggesting that physiological arousal may play a key role in horror enjoyment.…”

Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…For example, sensation-seeking is tied to a desire for greater arousal and associated with enjoyment of horror media (though the latter relationship is somewhat inconsistent. For review, see Martin, 2019 ). However, it is unclear how sensation seeking would lead to increased positive resilience or preparedness for a pandemic.…”

Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms

“…One of the most consistent personality correlates of horror fandom is sensation seeking (Martin 2019). Sensation seeking may be described as a tendency to seek out experiences that maximize arousal through novelty, complexity, or intense sensations (Zuckerman, 1994).…”