Fear movies, why do we like them?

How many of us like to go to the movies in search of a fear movie? How many we love to turn off the house lights, put a horror movie and get carried away by mystery and scares? Fear movies have a faithful audience. People who like mystery but, above all, fear. They love to feel those moments of tension that are increasing until they are anything or we have a great shock. But what hides behind that pleasure for fear movies?

Fear, as primary emotion, consists of an adaptive process to avoid possible dangers. That is why, it is striking that we like to live this emotion even if it is controlled. Throughout the article, some of the possible reasons why this type of films attract so many people will be addressed.

Content

• Scare watching fear movies
• A happy ending after a cluster of misfortunes
• Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
  • Final comment
  • Bibliographic references

Scare watching fear movies

The title of this section suggests much of the content, because precisely those who like to scare are usually watching fear movies. That is, when it comes to a controlled situation like movies, this emotion can be enjoyed. As the researcher Joel Cohen of the University of Florida affirms, People can enjoy emotions even if they come from a negative source, "Otherwise, things could be quite boring", Cohen says.

On the other hand, Psychology professor Marvin Zuckerman adds that it is also a matter of personality. Defends that Fear films are the preference of those who are looking for higher levels of excitation And they need to live intense experiences. It should be remembered that when we are afraid we begin to release adrenaline. This leads to a pleasant experience that can drag us to repeat it.

In the case of people with a "addic" personality to adrenaline, they can also be seen carrying out risk sports. In this case, the risk is more real. But what happens in the body? At the physiological level we can find the excitation transfer paradigm. The psychologist Dolf Zillmann describes it as the accumulation of the physiological activation that occurs after each exciting event. If before the excitement is deactivated we live again an intense moment and we no longer start from scratch. What happens to this excitation? Because of that The "high" for the movie endures once the movie finished.

A happy ending after a cluster of misfortunes

A relevant aspect is the fact that during the entire horror movie, misfortunes happen, one after another, until filling in a happy ending. What hides behind this type of narration? Throughout the film there are adverse situations that activate us physiologically. At the same time, we observe the existence of "good" characters and "bad" characters with which we feel more or less identified.

In general, as spectators we usually put ourselves in the skin of good characters. We live their experiences, the increase in its discomfort, the tension that accumulates scene after scene as well as the psychological condition that the characters are going through. Empathy enables us to put ourselves in place and live in some way. At the same time, we are generating aversion towards the "bad" of the film. A desire for the liberation of suffering of the good and punishment of the evil is generated in us.

The happy ending of these films serves as relief of all the tension we have accumulated. Although we physiologically take something else in calming us, at the psychological level we feel well -being when "the good" runs out the shocks and the "bad" ends bad.

Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

The end of the film -although it is not so happy -causes the deactivation of the sympathetic system by mediation of the parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for activating us in situations of tension. For example, when we go down and we see a suspicious shadow or silhouette, we usually go into tension, we open our eyes, we tension our muscles to prepare for the fight or flight and increase the heart rate.

However, when we observe better, we realize that it is the shadow of a tree. At that moment, The parasympathetic nervous system comes into action and our physiological activation returns to normal. This process is the one that occurs when a horror film ends, we go from a state of activation to the relaxation. Moreover, the worse the main character passes, the better we feel in the end if everything ends well.

Final comment

Fear is an emotion considered negative, but despite this, in controlled environments we are able to enjoy it. So the best thing those who like this type of films can do is sit "quietly" and enjoy the show. Finally, remember that after watching a horror movie it is important to look under the bed before going to sleep ..

Bibliographic references

• Carrasco, J. L., Álvarez, p., & González, I. (2006). The neurobiology of fear. Neurology Magazine, 43 (1), 34-40.
• Delgado, j. M. (2008). The brain and fear. Neurology Magazine, 46 (Suppl. 1), S49-S54.
• Ledoux, j. AND. (2010). The emotional brain. Paidós.
• Quirós, j. F. (2014). Fear, anxiety and stress: a neurobiological perspective. Magazine of the Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry, 34 (123), 475-484.
• Sánchez-Alvarez, J. C. (2013). Fear and its disorders: neurobiological and psychological perspectives. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Psychology, 18 (3), 213-230.