culture
Why do we like horror Movies Sweaty hands, heart racing, stomach dancing in our belly. The adrenaline flows through our bodies. We crave symptoms that would usually let us petrified even though our entire body was screaming “RUN”. But why? Why would we want to simulate a terrifying experience, on purpose? Why would we want to make our bodies believe that our lives are in danger and it seems we are going to die? Well, just for fun.
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espite the existence of several theories related to the motivation behind why people like to watch horror movies, none of them fully explain this phenomenon. However, according to a 2004 paper in the Journal of Media Psychology, most of them involve at least one of these three factors: tension, relevance, and unrealism. Maybe you like it because of the unknown, maybe you like it because you can relate to something in the movie, or maybe you just like it because you know it’s not real. Our physical reactions to horror movies
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play a significant part in society’s love for the tension generated by the mystery and fear. “What happens for most people is that you have an arousal of your sympathetic nervous system and an activation [to produce] adrenaline”, explained Advanced Placement Psychology teacher Heidi Mathers to Zephyrus. When this happens, our brain goes into fightor-flight mode. Our heart rate and our respiration increase, our muscles tense and we can even scream or jump. But, if our bodies usually react
the same way, why do some people love horror movies while others think they are a nightmare? This can be attributed to the Emotion Theory. “The Emotion Theory states that our interpretation of these same physiological cues can be different depending on the individual,” said Mathers. This means that while horror movie enthusiasts feel a thrill triggered by fear (sensation seekers), other people may feel distressed. According to the online newspaper on science Sciencenorway.no,
