The Appeal of Fear : The Traits

In this series of videos and in celebration of my favorite and spookiest month of the year, I will be describing the why we expose ourselves, quite readily and willingly for some of us, to horror media. This seems to be a conundrum given that horror is well, horrifying. In this second video I examine the physical and psychological traits, that are long-term aspects of the self, that may cause one to seek out horror, including biological sex and sensation seeking.

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References:

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Cantor, J. (2002). Fright reactions to mass media. Media effects: Advances in theory and research, 2(2), 287-306.

Cantor, J., and S. Reilly. (1982). Adolescents’ fright reactions to television and films. Journal of Communication 32, (1) 87–99.

Edwards, E. (1991). The ecstasy of horrible expectations: Morbid curiosity, sensation seeking, and interest in horror movies. In B. Austin (Ed.), Current research in film: Audience, economics, and law (Vol. 5 pp., 19-38). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Lawrence, P. A., & Palmgreen, P. C. (1996). A uses and gratifications analysis of horror film preferences. In J. B. Weaver & R. Tamborini (Eds.), Horror films: Current research on audience preferences and reactions (pp. 161-178). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Zillmann, D., & Weaver, J. B. (1996). Gender-socialization theory of reactions to horror. InJ. B. Weaver & R. Tamborini (Eds.), Horror films: Current research on audience preferences and reactions (pp. 81-101). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate

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