Why Do We Enjoy Being Scared?
And why our sense of fear provides us benefits.
There is nothing better than a great horror movie. There is something about a foreboding atmosphere, creepy music and shadowy figures in the background that elicit simultaneous fear and joy. As we anticipate something terrifying, our heart begins to race while our breathing speeds up. If the movie is well-directed, you might even yelp when the ghost or monster appears. While fear itself is unpleasant under any other circumstance, millions of us love horror movies.
I often wonder why we enjoy sensations and movies that terrify us. Intuitively, it does not sound like it makes a lot of sense. Fear evolved to help us respond to potential threats within our environment. While fear is conserved in the animal kingdom, our enjoyment of it may be unique. Is this something that cropped up by chance or a feature that our entertainment allows us to experience?
While our response might be a little different than a mouse, many of the same brain circuits are activated. Yet we might be the only organisms that subject ourselves to fear for recreation. The horror genre is rife with monsters, slashers and gore. But we go back to watching the latest Halloween movie every year to scare ourselves. Some evidence suggests that these scares might benefit us beyond providing enjoyment.
