Why Do We Like Watching Scary Films?

(https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-excess/201510/why-do-we-watchingscary-films)
A brief look at psychological horror at the cinema E
Regular readers of my articles will know that I love horror films (based on articles I have
written such as the psychology of Hannibal Lecter). Although I am not a great fan of the
archetypal slasher movies (franchises such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th,
Halloween, etc.), I do like a bit of schlock horror (such as the David Cronenbergs films
Scanners and The Fly) as well as psychological horror (such as Roman
PolanskisRosemarys Baby and Jaume Collet-Serras Orphan). But why do we love to watch
scary films? Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein, a professor of social and organizational psychology at the
University of Utrecht (and for whom I have written book chapters on various aspects of video
game play) in a 2013 interview for IGN (formerly Imagine Games Network) was quoted as
saying:
"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. That's certainly
true of people who go to entertainment products like horror films that have big effects.
They want those effects[Horror films must] provide a just resolution in the end. The
bad guy gets it. Even though they choose to watch these things, the images are still
disturbing for many people. But people have the ability to pay attention as much or as
little as they care to in order to control what effect it has on them, emotionally and
otherwise."
According to a 2004 paper in the Journal of Media Psychology by Dr. Glenn Walters, the
three primary factors that make horror films alluring are tension (generated by suspense,
mystery, terror, shock, and gore), relevance (that may relate to personal relevance, cultural
meaningfulness, the fear of death, etc.), and (somewhat paradoxically given the second
factor) unrealism. Walters made reference to a number of psychological studies to support
his argument. For instance:
Haidt, McCauley, and Rozin (1994), in conducting research on disgust, exposed college
students to three documentary videos depicting real-life horrors. One clip showed cows
being stunned, killed, and butchered in a slaughterhouse; a second clip pictured a live
monkey being struck in the head with a hammer, having its skull cracked opened, and its
brain served as dessert; a third clip depicted a childs facial skin being turned inside out
in preparation for surgery. Ninety percent of the students turned the video off before it
reached the end. Even the majority of individuals who watched the tape in its entirety
found the images disturbing. Yet many of these same individuals would think nothing of
paying money to attend the premiere of a new horror film with much more blood and
gore than was present in the documentaries that most of them found repugnant.
McCauley (1998) posed the logical question of why these students found the
documentary film so unpleasant when most had sat through horror pictures that were
appreciably more violent and bloody. The answer that McCauley came up with was that
the fictional nature of horror films affords viewers a sense of control by placing
psychological distance between them and the violent acts they have witnessed. Most
people who view horror movies understand that the filmed events are unreal, which
furnishes them with psychological distance from the horror portrayed in the film. In fact,
there is evidence that young viewers who perceive greater realism in horror films are

more negatively affected by their exposure to horror films than viewers who perceive the
film as unreal (Hoekstra, Harris, & Helmick, 1999)."
According to research published by Dr. Deirdre Johnston in a 1995 issue of Human
Communication Research into motivations for viewing graphic horror, there are four main
different reasons for why we (or at the very least a small sample of 220 American
adolescents) like watching horror movies (gore watching, thrill watching, independent
watching and problem watching). These four reasons were also discussed in relation to
various dispositional characteristics such as fearfulness, empathy, and sensation seeking.
Dr. Johnston reported that: The four viewing motivations are found to be related to viewers
cognitive and affective responses to horror films, as well as viewers tendency to identify with
either the killers or victims in these films." More specifically she reported (i) gore watchers
typically had low empathy, high sensation seeking, and [among males only] a strong
identification with the killer, (ii) thrill watchers typically had both high empathy and sensation
seeking, identified themselves more with the victims, and liked the suspense of the film, (iii)
independent watchers typically had a high empathy for the victim along with a high positive
effect for overcoming fear, and (iv) problem watchers typically had high empathy for the
victim but were characterized by negative effect (particularly a sense of helplessness).
A really good article on the psychology of scary films by John Hess on the Filmmaker IQ
website claimed there were many theories on why we love to watch horror films. I wasnt
able to check out all of the original sources (as there was no reference list) but I have no
reason to doubt the veracity of the theories outlined. For instance, the psychoanalyst Dr. Carl
Jung believed horror films tapped into primordial archetypes buried deep in our collective
subconscious images like shadow and mother play important role in the horror genre.
However, as with almost all psychoanalytic theorizing, such notions are hard to empirically
test. Another psychoanalytic theory although arguably dating back to Aristotle is the
notion of catharsis (i.e., that we watch violent and frightening films as a way of purging
negative emotions and/or as a way to relieve pent-up aggression (an argument also
proposed as a reason as to why some people love to play violent video games). Dr. Dolf
Zillmans Excitation Transfer theory (ETT) is arguably an extension of catharsis theory. Hess
summary of ETT notes:
Negative feelings created by horror movies actually intensify the positive feelings when
the hero triumphs in the end. But what about movies where the hero doesnt triumph?
And even in some small studies have show that peoples enjoyment was actually higher
during the scary parts of a horror film than it was after."
Hess then goes onto outline the thoughts of Nol Carroll (a film scholar) who claimed that
horror films are played out outside everyday normal behaviour, and comprise curiosity and
fascination. Hess writes:
Studies by [researchers such as Zillman] have shown that there is a significant
correlation between people who are accepting of norm-violating behavior and interest in
horror movies. But that doesnt explain why some viewers respond positively when the
norm violators such as the sexual promiscuous teenage couple, the criminal, the
adulterer are punished and killed by the movie monster. This enjoyment of the
punishment of those that deserves it makes up the Dispositional Alignment Theory. We
like horror movies because the people on screen getting killed deserve it. But this may
give us insight into who the audiences want to see eat it but its not a clear picture of
why horror films are popular in the first place. Another theory put forth by Marvin
Zuckerman in 1979 proposed that people who scored high in the Sensation Seeking
Scale often reported a greater interest in exciting things like rollercasters, bungee

jumping and horror films. Researchers have found correlation but it isnt always
significant. Even Zuckerman noted that picking only one trait misses the fact that there
are lots of things that draw people to horror films."
Dolf Zillmann (along with James Weaver, Norbert Mundorf and Charles Aust) put forward
The Gender Socialization theory in a 1996 issue the Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology (and sometimes referred to as the Snuggle Theory. Zillman and his colleagues
exposed 36 male and 36 female undergraduates to a horror movie in the presence of a
same-age, opposite-gender companion of low or high initial appeal who expressed mastery,
affective indifference, or distress. They reported that men enjoyed the film most in the
company of a distressed woman and least in the company of a mastering woman. Women
enjoyed the movie most in the company of a mastering man and least in the company of a
distressed man. Hess says these findings dont explain why some people go to horror films
alone or what happens after adolescence. Finally, cultural historian David Skal has argued
that horror films are simply reflect our societal fears. As Hess notes:
Looking at the history of horror you have mutant monsters rising in 50s from our fear of
the nuclear bogeyman, Zombies in the 60s with Vietnam, Nightmare on Elm Street as a
mistrust in authority figures stemming from the Watergate scandals and Zombies again
in the 2000s as a reflection of viral pandemic fears. But for as many horror cycles that fit
the theory, there are many that dont. And horror films work on a universal level crossing
national boundaries while still working in different cultures."
Basically, none of these theories fully explain why we love watching scary films. Different
people like watching for different reasons and no theory has been put forward that explains
everyones motives and reasoning. I will continue to enjoy watching even though I dont fully
understand my own motives.