Why Do We Like to Be Scared?
From haunted houses to Friday the 13th movies, we love to scare ourselves silly. For this special Halloween edition of the Savvy Psychologist, Dr. Ellen Hendriksen answers the question: Why do we enjoy being scared?
I scream, you scream, we all…well, we love to scream. But why? Why do so many people get a kick out being terrified?
In honor of Halloween, here are 4 reasons we love to feel fear:
Reason #1: Fight or Flight Creates a Natural High
Your brain likes to keep you safe.
So when your brain perceives danger – whether an intruder on your porch or Freddy Krueger on your TV – your amygdala sets off a cascade of reactions. The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for sounding the alarm. When we perceive danger, it activates the sympathetic nervous system and instructs your adrenal glands to release stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.
The result?
Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by lynda.com. lynda.com is an easy and affordable way to help individuals and organizations learn. Instantly stream thousands of courses created by experts on business, software, web development, graphic design and more. For a free trial visit lynda.com/savvy.
Your heart races, your eyes widen to better see the danger, digestion slows, and blood diverts to your large muscle groups so you can either run for your life or fight tooth and claw.
However, when your brain knows you’re actually safe, like when the haunted house bogeyman jumps out from around the corner, that adrenaline (along with dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter), can give you a natural high.
Individuals differ in their reactions to this hormone cascade. A 2008 study found that having fewer dopamine receptors available in the brain went along with greater novelty-seeking. So folks with fewer receptors seek out adventure, either in relatively safe ways like horror movies or adventure sports, or in potentially less safe ways like experimenting with drugs or driving recklessly. These differences account for why you might find bungee jumping thrilling, while I might say “No thanks.”
Reason #2: Enduring a Scare Boosts Confidence
While some “fear junkies” love the rush, others love the confidence boost of surviving a scary situation.
Making it through alive (even if you were safe the whole time, like in a Halloween haunted house) can leave you with a shot of confidence and a jolt to your self-esteem.
And who doesn’t want that?
Reason #3: Sensation-Seekers Love a Thrill
We all know someone – or are someone – who gets bored easily and needs a lot of stimulation to stay happy and engaged. Dr. Marvin Zuckerman of the University of Delaware has been studying these folks since the 1960s. He coined the term sensation seeking – a personality trait defined by searching out activities or sensations that are “varied, novel, complex, and intense.”
Dr. Zuckerman theorizes that sensation-seekers have 4 core characteristics:
They are thrill-seekers. They search out adventures that involve speed and danger, like hang gliding, scuba diving, or skydiving.
-
They are experience-seekers. They collect novel, singular experiences, like hanging out with a non-conformist crowd or traveling to unconventional places (no Carribbean cruises for them).
-
They are uninhibited, which can sometimes get them into trouble. Disinhibition might mean fun, crazy times, but may sometimes cross the line into infidelity or substance abuse.
-
They are susceptible to boredom. They get restless with routine and can’t stand feeling tied down. They hate seeing a movie they’ve seen before and would be miserable at an uptight dinner party.
Reason #4: Scary Situations Can Lead to Bonding
About 15 years ago, Dr. Shelley Taylor of UCLA proposed an alternative to the fight or flight model which she called “tend and befriend.” She noted that from rats to monkeys to humans, some individuals – often but not always females- respond to times of stress by nurturing and protecting their children (tend) or reaching out for social support (befriend). This might be part of what makes military recruits bond during basic training or pre-med study groups feel an alliance as they prep for the MCAT.
The tend and befriend response is thought to arise, in part, from the brew of hormones and neurotransmitters that get released with stress or fear. One of these, oxytocin, is the same bonding hormone released during breastfeeding or cuddling.
This Halloween, take advantage of the tend and befriend response by bonding with your friends during a Saw movie or snuggling with your crush after that scary haunted house visit.
That’s all for today. Be sure to sign up for the forthcoming Savvy Psychologist newsletter here and be one of the first to get exclusive tips delivered straight to your inbox!
References
ReferencesTaylor, S.E., Klein, L.C., Lewis, B.P., Gruenewald, T.L., Gurung, R.A.R. & Updegraff, J.A. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review, 107, 411-429.
Zald, D.H., Cowan, R.L., Riccardi, P. et al. (2008). Midbrain dopamine receptor availability is inversely associated with novelty-seeking traits in humans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 14372-8.
Zuckerman, M. (2007). The Sensation Seeking Scale V (SSS-V): Still reliable and valid. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1303-1305.
Zuckerman, M. (2009). “Chapter 31: Sensation seeking.” In, Leary, M.R. & Hoyle, R.H. Handbook of Individual Differences in Social Behavior. New York: The Guilford Press.
Please note that all content here is strictly for informational purposes only. This content does not substitute any medical advice, and does not replace any medical judgment or reasoning by your own personal health provider. Please always seek a licensed physician in your area regarding all health related questions and issues.
Skydiving and scared woman images courtesy of Shutterstock.
You May Also Like…
About the Author
Dr. Ellen Hendriksen was the host of the Savvy Psychologist podcast from 2014 to 2019. She is a clinical psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD). She earned her Ph.D. at UCLA and completed her training at Harvard Medical School. Her scientifically-based, zero-judgment approach is regularly featured in Psychology Today, Scientific American, The Huffington Post, and many other media outlets. Her debut book, HOW TO BE YOURSELF: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety, was published in March 2018.
