Horror script killing, entering a haunted house, extreme sports, why the more terrifying, the happier?

There is a paradox of recreational fear: knowing that it will trigger unpleasant emotions such as fear and shock, but taking the initiative to do so.

Some time ago, I wanted to play the script to kill, I chose a happy book, and no one has been fighting, and the staff asked me: "There are a few thrillers who are only 1-2 people behind, do you want to join?" I was shocked: why spend money to abuse yourself to scare yourself? In the end, I joined the thriller, although it was a little scary, but it was really fun. Horror is supposed to bring fear, why can it make people feel happy?

Popular relaxation activities such as scripted thrillers, watching horror movies, entering haunted houses, and playing extreme sports are all examples of entertaining fear—an emotional experience that mixes fear and pleasure. Most emotion theories suggest that people have a motivation to seek out and reinforce pleasant emotions and to avoid or change unpleasant ones. There is a paradox of recreational fear, then: knowing that it will trigger unpleasant emotions such as fear and shock, but taking the initiative to do so.

Why would anyone like to be entertained with fears

Psychologist Rozin has developed the theory of benign masochism, which holds that initially disgusting activities may be reversed and become pleasant through hedonic experiences, such as eating chili peppers, listening to sad music, sauna, skydiving, racing, rock climbing, etc. In this way, one can explore how far one can go in the direction of disgust, and how far one can go without bringing disaster and bringing the pleasure of pushing the limits, thus opening the door to a new world that is closed by default due to natural fear and caution.

Brain science research has also found that this may indeed be useful, because people who have seen threatening images and negative words a week ago will have a smaller physiological response when they are exposed to them again a week later, and labeling, expressing, and repeating negative images and texts can help manage negative emotions. I went to play the thriller book, and I felt that some scenes were very scary at the time, I was very nervous when I interacted with the NPCs, especially the dark room made me creepy, but after the case was successfully solved, I was sincerely relieved to share it with other players, and I felt very happy, I felt that next time I could play a more terrifying script to kill!

Who would like to be entertaining with fears

But not everyone is a fan of entertaining fears, some are afraid to go into haunted houses or watch horror movies, and many people are holding back before extreme sports are about to begin. Psychological research found that an analysis of a questionnaire survey of 1,187 respondents showed that people's favorability of recreational fear decreased slightly as they aged. So don't take the elderly to experience entertainment fears, maybe they won't be able to enjoy it. The study also found that people with high sensory-seeking tendencies (i.e., craving for sensory stimuli) and openness (receptivity to new things and ideas) had higher terror preferences, and they were more likely to experience pleasure from entertaining fear. When we want to experience recreational fear, we might as well invite a few young people who are still curious and creative to experience the joy mixed with fear.

In addition to the two personality traits of sensory-seeking tendencies and openness, another psychological study found that people with high emotional needs were also more likely to enjoy entertaining fears. The researchers randomly recruited 119 participants in movie theaters and conducted field studies in movie theaters, where participants watched the horror films "Thriller Flight 93" and "Bad Omen" and filled out questionnaires before and after watching the films. The findings found that people with high emotional needs experienced higher levels of negative and ambivalent emotions (a mixture of positive and negative emotions, such as mixed joy and sorrow) and assessed their emotions more positively, and that controlling for personality factors did not alter these effects. In other words, people who are easily influenced by emotional information and like to seek out and reminisce about emotionally warm situations are more likely to enjoy and enjoy the contradictory emotions of fear and pleasure that come with entertaining fear.

The more terrifying, the happier

Researchers invited 110 players to participate in field research in the haunted house, and evaluated the players' emotions through three methods: questionnaire self-evaluation, heart rate monitoring and video shooting coding, and found that the relationship between fear and pleasure is not a linear relationship, but an inverted U-shaped curve relationship, that is, the optimal fear level can maximize the sense of pleasure, and there is a "sweet spot" of fear. Too scary doesn't make people happy, too small pediatrics doesn't scary and not fun, and a moderate level of fear makes people the most happy.

The study also found that some players in haunted houses hide their fears by forcing a smile, but this "smile mask" does not help to promote pleasure. In addition, players who voluntarily go to a haunted house will experience more pleasure than those who accompany friends and family to a haunted house. So we don't force friends to accompany us to experience entertainment fear, involuntary players can't be really happy, but force themselves to be happy and make themselves more uncomfortable.

How can you really enjoy horror

Recreational fear allows people to feel and express both positive and negative emotions in an immersive way, allowing people to benefit from the process and prepare for future changes. Experiencing all kinds of emotions, whether they are fearful or happy, can help us unload our emotional burdens and walk more easily and smoothly on the road ahead.

Not everyone can enjoy recreational fear, and people who like to pursue excitement, have a high level of openness, and have high emotional needs prefer recreational fear. People who are unable to experience positive emotions in a scary situation do not need to have self-doubt or self-denial, simply because people with different personalities and emotional needs have different sensitivities to contradictory emotions and do not have to force themselves to practice courage or pretend to be calm and happy.

The level of horror of recreational fear varies from person to person, meaning that we need to choose what we love and not pursue excessive horror. For example, studies have found that native language horror movies are more frightening and suitable for the bold, and entry-level players with entertainment fears can try turning off the sound, turning on the lights, or watching foreign-language horror movies, starting with micro-horrors.

Some people suddenly order extra spicy, some can only accept mild spicy, and some people can't eat spicy at all. Different people's entertainment fear sweet spots are very different, and I hope we can all find our own best state, truly enjoy fear, enjoy having fun and growing in contradictory emotions!

For more exciting information, please download the "Central Radio Network" client in the application market. Welcome to provide news clues, 24-hour reporting hotline [phone], consumers can also complain online through the "Woodpecker Consumer Complaint Platform" of CCTV. Copyright Notice: The copyright of this article belongs to CCTV, and it may not be reproduced without authorization. Please contact [email protected] for reprinting, we will be held accountable for not respecting the original.