NATIONWIDE — Haunted houses, horror movies, spooky costumes — for some of us, the thought of those things excites us and for others, they scare us to death. Let’s break down the science behind this fear. Our Dr. Nicole Cross breaks down the science of fear.
- We’re born with fear of falling and loud noises
- Other fears are learned
- We all experience fear differently
First, the basics:
One, we were born with the fear of two things: falling and loud noises; everything else we learned along the way.
Two, we all have a fight or flight response — when our body gears up to defend ourselves or to run away from a perceived harmful event or threat.
Three, everyone experiences fear a little differently. For some of us, it's a superhero-like rush. For others, it's a nausea-inducing quiver.
Halloween falls into a different category, we don’t necessarily fear for our lives, so we may allow ourselves to enjoy the experience unless there have been things that have happened in the past that have caused us to avoid scary situations, like watching a scary movie that haunted you or having a scary experience that stuck with you. If those situations caused you to want to avoid scary scenes like the plague, then you may fit into the “scaredy-cat” category.
If not, you may belong in the thrill seeker group — those of us who voluntarily seek out scary situations, be it skydiving, riding a rollercoaster or entering a haunted house. We still feel the fear in our bodies, but we take it on like a challenge and seek to conquer it — it’s why you see people go right from screaming to laughing.
And there’s some benefit, research published in the journal Emotions shows that people who go to scary attractions find their moods improved and stress levels lowered. Finally, it creates a sense of shared bonding because you’re experiencing it together, which can make for a night to remember fondly for a long time.
Coercing someone into a scary situation is never a good idea. If you don't feel you're in control, you're likely to just feel scared in a bad way the whole time. So if the idea of a haunted house makes you feel queasy, just wait outside with a pumpkin spice latte and some Halloween candy.