Haunted Attraction: The Effects of Recreational Fear on Interpersonal Bonding

What is it about?

Every October, millions of people pay to be scared in a haunted house, at a showing of a horror movie, etc. Anecdotal evidence suggests that sharing these experiences with others may help strengthen our relationships. Across five studies conducted at a haunted house, we investigated how recreational fear shapes social connection. We discovered that when people feel scared inside the haunted attraction, and especially when they make physical contact with their friends, they are more likely to say that the experience brought them closer together. However, interestingly, when we measured closeness before and after participants went through the haunted house, no significant changes in closeness were revealed. In our final, interview-based study, people explained how an important part of the bonding process in a recreational fear context is the collective storytelling that happens after -- retelling what happened, sharing reactions, and laughing at each other. This collective reflection seemed to solidify and deepen the relational effects of shared fear.

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Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash

Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash