(PDF) Pandemic Practice: Horror Fans and Morbidly Curious Individuals Are More Psychologically Resilient During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Pandemic Practice: Horror Fans and Morbidly Curious Individuals Are More Psychologically Resilient During the COVID-19 Pandemic
John Johnson
2020
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Abstract
One explanation for why people engage in frightening fictional experiences is that these experiences can act as simulations of actual experiences from which individuals can gather information and model possible worlds. Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study (n = 310) tested whether past and current engagement with thematically relevant media fictions, including horror and pandemic films, was associated with greater preparedness for and psychological resilience toward the pandemic. Since morbid curiosity has previously been associated with horror media use during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also tested whether trait morbid curiosity was associated with pandemic preparedness and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that fans of horror films exhibited greater resilience during the pandemic and that fans of “prepper” genres (alien-invasion, apocalyptic, and zombie films) exhibited both greater resilience and preparedness. We also found that trait mor...
Key takeaways
AI
Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals exhibited greater psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study included 310 participants, exploring media engagement's role in pandemic preparedness.
Fans of 'prepper' genres showed enhanced resilience and preparedness compared to horror fans alone.
Trait morbid curiosity correlated with increased positive resilience but not with psychological distress or preparedness.
Fictional experiences may serve as valuable simulations for coping with real-world crises like pandemics.
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Journal Pre-proof
Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals
are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19
pandemic
Coltan Scrivner, John A. Johnson, Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen,
Mathias Clasen
PII: S0191-8869(20)30588-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397
Reference: PAID 110397
To appear in: Personality and Individual Differences
Received date: 7 July 2020
Revised date: 10 September 2020
Accepted date: 11 September 2020
Please cite this article as: C. Scrivner, J.A. Johnson, J. Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, et al.,
Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically
resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, Personality and Individual Differences (2020),
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such
as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is
not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting,
typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this
version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production
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Journal Pre-proof
Pandemic Practice: Horror Fans and Morbidly Curious Individuals Are More
Psychologically Resilient During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Coltan Scrivner1,2
John A. Johnson3
Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen4
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Mathias Clasen4,5
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1. Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US
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2. Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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3. Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University
4. Department of English, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University
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5. Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University
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Corresponding Author:
Coltan Scrivner
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[email protected]
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Pandemic Practice: Horror Fans and Morbidly Curious Individuals Are More
Psychologically Resilient During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
One explanation for why people engage in frightening fictional experiences is that these
experiences can act as simulations of actual experiences from which individuals can gather
of
information and model possible worlds. Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study
ro
(n = 310) tested whether past and current engagement with thematically relevant media fictions,
-p
including horror and pandemic films, was associated with greater preparedness for and
psychological resilience toward the pandemic. Since morbid curiosity has previously been
re
associated with horror media use during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also tested whether trait
lP
morbid curiosity was associated with pandemic preparedness and psychological resilience during
na
the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that fans of horror films exhibited greater resilience during
the pandemic and that fans of “prepper” genres (alien-invasion, apocalyptic, and zombie films)
ur
exhibited both greater resilience and preparedness. We also found that trait morbid curiosity was
Jo
associated with positive resilience and interest in pandemic films during the pandemic. Taken
together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to frightening fictions
allow audiences to practice effective coping strategies that can be beneficial in real-world
situations.
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1. Introduction
“A good horror story is one that functions on a symbolic level, using fictional (and sometimes
supernatural) events to help us understand our own deepest real fears.” (King, 2011).
Intentionally exposing oneself to fearful situations is, on its face, a peculiar phenomenon. An
empirically supported explanation for why people engage in frightening fictional experiences is
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that these experiences can act as simulations of actual experiences from which individuals can
gather information and model possible worlds (Clasen, 2017; Clasen et al., 2018; Mar & Oatley,
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2008; Morin et al., 2019). In a simulated experience, such as an oral story, a novel or a film, one
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can explore possible futures or phenomena, gathering information about what the real version of
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such an experience would look like, and learn how to prepare for analogous situations in the real
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world (Scalise-Sugiyama, 2001).
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In this way, engaging with imagined worlds through fiction is functionally analogous to various
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kinds of play. For example, rough-and-tumble play has been hypothesized to have evolved in
part because it safely simulates dangerous situations (Boulton & Smith, 1992). Through
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engaging in rough-and-tumble play, animals can develop and practice the use of cognitive and
motor skills required for facing actual dangerous confrontations in adulthood (Kniffin & Scalise-
Sugiyama, 2018; Scalise-Sugiyama et al., 2018). Similarly, fitness-relevant information can be
learned through cognitive play with stories (Johnson, et al., 2011; Morin et al., 2019; Scalise-
Sugiyama, 2005; Smith et al., 2007; van Krieken, 2018)
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Take, for example, a film about a pandemic. A pandemic film gives viewers low-cost access to
important information that is difficult or dangerous to come across in the real world. For
example, how do other people act in the face of a pandemic? Are such events likely to prompt
cooperative or selfish behavior in others? How might one navigate the altered social landscape of
a pandemic world? What does the world look like when institutions that act as cornerstones of
everyday existence no longer operate as usual? Should a pandemic ever occur, this information
could be quite valuable. The hypothesis that pandemic and apocalyptic fiction can provide
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adaptive simulations of catastrophic scenarios has been suggested theoretically (Clasen, 2019),
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but has not yet been empirically tested.
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The most important part of many stories may not be their literal similarity to real life, but the
meaning that can be extracted from them and applied to real world situations (Biesele, 1986).
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Although zombies do not exist and thus represent no real threat to humans, situations that occur
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in zombie movies may be analogous to situations that would occur in real-world events. The
widespread chaos that occurs in zombie films is in many ways similar to the widespread chaos
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that can occur during real-world disasters. Thus, the information we obtain vicariously from an
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imagined zombie apocalypse may serve us in analogous situations in the real world (Clasen,
2017).
Simulation is useful because it can substantially reduce the cost of exploring, experiencing, and
learning about some phenomenon, particularly if that phenomenon is dangerous. This shift in the
cost-benefit ratio decreases the motivation required for one to explore the phenomenon in
question. Likewise, stories with more relevance to the current state of the world are often more
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popular, reflecting the possible functional purpose of stories (Scalise-Sugiyama, 2019). One
recent example of this might be the massive surge in popularity of the film Contagion in the
early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the film was nearly a decade old, it quickly
became one of the most streamed movies in America, presumably due to the fact that it provides
a realistic example of what happens during a viral pandemic (Mack, 2020).
Still, engaging with a mental simulation of a dangerous situation is not cost-free. Mental
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simulation of dangerous phenomena can bring about unpleasant emotions and comes with a non-
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trivial time-commitment. The extent to which an individual is motivated to learn about the
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dangerous situations in life may be described as morbid curiosity (Scrivner, in press; 2020). In
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line with the simulation account, Scrivner (in press) found that individuals high in trait morbid
curiosity became much more interested in pandemic-themed films in the early weeks of the
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COVID-19 outbreak than less morbidly curious individuals. Through a greater propensity to
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gather information about dangerous phenomena, morbidly curious individuals may accrue a
larger repertoire of knowledge and emotional coping strategies that would be useful in dangerous
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situations.
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In addition to learning how to navigate dangerous situations through simulations, people may
also learn to navigate their own emotions. Indeed, previous research has demonstrated that
visitors in a commercial haunted house actively use a range of emotion regulation strategies to
regulate fear levels and achieve maximum pleasure (Clasen et al., 2019). Presumably, frequent
users of horror media often employ emotion regulation strategies, which may lead to improved
emotional coping skills. In particular, voluntary use of horror entertainment may lead to less
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reliance on avoidance mechanisms in response to fear, which have been shown to be associated
with poor psychological outcomes when used in response to certain fears, including viral
outbreaks (Dillard, et al., 2018; Petzold et al., 2020). Horror fiction allows people to safely and
frequently experience fear, which is typically experienced in the presence of real danger. By
eliciting fear in a safe setting, horror fiction presents an opportunity for audiences to hone their
emotion regulation skills (Kerr et al., 2019; Lobel et al., 2016; Schartau et al., 2009). Emotion
regulation skills have, in turn, been shown to be associated with increased psychological
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resilience (Mestre et al., 2017; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004).
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1.1 Present research
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Through engaging often with frightening fictional experiences, horror fans and morbidly curious
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individuals can gather information and practice emotion regulation skills that may benefit them
in dangerous real-world scenarios. With regard to COVID-19, individuals who have spent more
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time simulating frightening or dystopian experiences in the past may experience less
psychological distress during the pandemic. Likewise, those who are motivated to seek out
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dangerous information (i.e., the morbidly curious) may experience greater resilience during the
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pandemic.
In this study, we tested the hypothesis that morbidly curious individuals and horror fans exhibit
greater psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigated whether
or not those who watched more pandemic films specifically exhibited greater resilience and
preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. While fiction can exist in several forms, we opted to
study films since films are a particularly popular medium. We predicted that 1) horror fans
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would be more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) those who score
high in trait morbid curiosity would be more psychologically resilient during the pandemic, 3)
watching more pandemic films would be associated with greater preparedness and psychological
resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Method
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2.1 Participants
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We recruited 322 US participants from Prolific for a study on Personality, Media, and Current
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Events. Participants were recruited in April 2020, about a month after COVID-19 was declared a
global pandemic. Participants were recruited during this time because it was early in the
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pandemic, when there was still a lot of uncertainty about what was happening. The sample size
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required to detect a small effect size (r = .20) with 95% power (ɑ = .05) was 314; we recruited
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slightly more in anticipation that some may fail attention checks. Five participants were removed
for failing attention checks. Since sex was used as a predictor in some analyses, participants who
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answered something other than male or female (n = 7) were excluded from analyses (nfinal = 310)
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2.2 Measures
2.2.1 Genre questions
Participants were asked to what extent they agreed (7-point scales, strongly disagree to strongly
agree) with each of 10 statements that said, “I would consider myself a fan of ______ movies
and TV shows.” The 10 types of movies and TV shows were horror, zombie, psychological
thriller, supernatural, apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, science fiction, alien-invasion, crime,
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comedy, and romance. Since simulations should work best when they present information
relevant to real-world situations, we combined the genres where the imagined world is
illustrative of the chaos that might occur in a real-world pandemic (zombie, apocalyptic/post-
apocalyptic, and alien-invasion) into a “prepper genres” variable. Only the prepper and horror
genre variables were of interest in the analysis; the other genre variables were used to mask the
intent of the study. Participants were also asked to rate the extent to which they agreed (7-point
scales, strongly disagree to strongly agree) with a statement of generic enjoyment of video
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entertainment, “I enjoy watching movies and TV shows.” Since greater enjoyment of horror
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films could be a side effect of greater enjoyment for films in general, this item was used as a
control in regression models.
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2.2.2 Pandemic-specific questions
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Participants were also asked about their past use of and current interest in pandemic movies. The
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past use question asked, “Which of the following best describes you?” Answer choice options
were, “I have _____ pandemic films” (never seen; seen one or two; seen several; seen many).
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The current interest question asked, “Which of the following best describes you?” The answer
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choice options were, “Currently, I am ________ in pandemic films” (not interested; slightly
interested; somewhat interested; very interested).
2.2.3 Psychological resilience
Though some general event-resilience scales exist, they are not well-suited for studying
psychological resilience to a pandemic. For example, the Impact of Events Scale revised (IES-R;
Weiss & Marmar, 1996) is a widely-used measure of distress, but it is intended for use with
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singular events, such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack. The scale is not well-suited for a
long-term event with a somewhat abstract threat (e.g.., a pandemic). In this study, we
operationalize resilience as the ability to have more positive experiences/emotional states
(positive resilience) or fewer negative experiences/emotional states (psychological distress).
To properly assess this conceptualization of psychological resilience during the pandemic, we
created a 13-item scale that we refer to as the Pandemic Psychological Resilience Scale (PPRS).
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Participants were instructed to rate on a 7-point scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) how
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much they agreed or disagreed with each of 13 statements (Table 1).
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2.2.4 Preparedness for the Pandemic
In addition to helping cope with future difficult situations, simulations would presumably also
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help prepare for them. This means that the individual who simulated pandemic experiences more
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often through fiction might be better equipped to anticipate a pending pandemic, foresee its
downstream effects, and prepare for it by obtaining the proper material resources in the early
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stages of the pandemic. To assess preparedness, participants rated on a 7-point scale (strongly
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disagree to strongly agree) how much they agreed or disagreed with each of the six statements
(Table 2). A sixth statement (“I used what I've seen in movies or read in novels to help me know
how to deal with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic”) was excluded from analysis because
of its high degree of similarity to the prediction about using movies to prepare for pandemics
2.2.5 Morbid Curiosity
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Trait morbid curiosity was measured using the Morbid Curiosity Scale (Scrivner, 2020). Morbid
curiosity has been defined as a trait that motivates a person to learn about dangerous or
threatening phenomena (Scrivner, in press; 2020). The Morbid Curiosity Scale is a 24-item
assessment that is used to measure trait morbid curiosity as well as the four sub-factors of morbid
curiosity. Only the total score from the Morbid Curiosity Scale was calculated and used in
analyses.
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2.2.6 Five-Factor Model of Personality
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To control for general domains of personality in regression models, participants completed the
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Ten Item Personality Measure (TIPI; Gosling et al., 2003). The TIPI contains two items for each
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domain of the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM). The TIPI has been evaluated for
reliability and validity with respect to its convergence with the longer form questionnaires that
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measure the FFM (Ehrhart et al., 2009).
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3. Results
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All data and analysis code used for this study are available on the Open Science Framework
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(https://osf.io/x524h/?view_only=adc26f2047394fde83d04ca5f3d58212). Descriptive statistics
for main variables of interest can be found in Supplementary Table 1. Zero-order correlations for
all variables, including other genres, can be found in Supplementary Table 2.
3.1 Exploratory factor analysis on the PPRS and preparedness items
We first conducted exploratory factor analysis on the PPRS using the psych package in R
(Revelle, 2017). Using Mahalanobis distance (X2(13) = 34.53), six outliers were detected and
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removed from further analysis (nfinal = 304). Bartlett’s test indicated correlation adequacy (X2(78)
= 1731.01, p < .001) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test indicated that data were suitable
for EFA (MSA = 0.89). Visual inspection of a scree plot suggested two factors for the PPSR
items. Maximum likelihood estimation was used with direct oblimin (oblique) rotation to
examine factor structure. Using a factor loading criterion of .30, one item loaded on both factors
and was removed from further analysis. After removing it, the model achieved simple structure
(Table 1). The items grouped into two types of resilience: positive (positive resilience) and
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negative (psychological distress). Items that loaded onto the positive resilience factor assessed an
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individual’s ability to experience positive emotional states and outlooks during the pandemic.
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Items that loaded onto the psychological distress factor pointed to a disruption in day-to-day life,
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such as higher than usual depression, anxiety, irritability, and sleeplessness. The two factors
were negatively correlated (r = -.46). With psychological distress reverse-coded, the scale as a
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whole demonstrated good internal reliability (Cronbach’s ɑ = .86), as did each subscale (positive
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resilience ɑ = .83; psychological distress ɑ = .82).
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Exploratory factor analysis was also conducted on the five preparedness scale items using the
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same method as described above. Using Mahalanobis distance (X2(5) = 20.52), one outlier was
detected and removed from further analysis (nfinal = 309). Bartlett’s test indicated correlation
adequacy (X2(10) = 395.29, p < .001) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test indicated that data
were suitable for EFA (MSA = 0.69). A scree plot suggested a single factor for preparedness,
with each item loading onto the factor at 0.30 or higher (Table 2). The scale demonstrated
adequate internal reliability (ɑ = .73).
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3.2 Test-retest reliability of the PPRS
In order to obtain further information about the reliability of the PPRS, we invited all of the
original participants (n = 322) to complete a second survey containing the PPRS questions one
month after the first survey. A total of 255 participants completed the second survey for a
retention rate of 79%. Three participants were removed for failing an attention check. After
combining the datasets and removing anyone who failed an attention check in either survey, 244
participants remained. Participants’ scores on the positive resilience and psychological distress
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subscales at one month correlated strongly with their initial scores (r = .70 and .77, respectively),
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providing further evidence that the PPRS is a reliable measure of psychological resilience during
a pandemic.
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Table 1
Factor loadings of the 12-item PPRS
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Factor Loadings
Items Positive Negative
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During the pandemic, I have been more depressed than
-.09 .81
usual.
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I have been taking the news about the pandemic in
.49 -.06
stride.
I have been able to find things to enjoy during the
.40 -.19
pandemic.
Compared to how I usually feel, I have been more
.03 .72
nervous and anxious during the pandemic.
I am more irritable than usual. .07 .83
Despite troubles, I have been able to find things to
.46 -.20
laugh about.
I haven't been sleeping well since the pandemic started. -.09 .52
I feel positive about the future. .58 -.10
I have found some aspects of the pandemic to be .44 .02
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interesting.
I believe in my ability to get through these difficult
.95 .05
times.
I know that I can get through these uncertain times. .90 .01
Life has felt meaningful during the pandemic. .35 -.19
Cronbach's alpha .83 .82
Inter-item Correlation (M) .39 .53
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Table 2
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Factor loadings of the 5 items in the preparedness scale
Items Factor loadings
pandemic.
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I was mentally prepared for a pandemic like the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
.31
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I was able to predict how bad things would get due to the Coronavirus
.58
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(COVID-19) pandemic before things really took off.
The magnitude of the consequences of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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.85
outbreak took me by surprise. (-)
I knew early on which items I should buy in preparation for a pandemic like
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.34
the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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I never could have imagined that a viral outbreak would have consequences
.79
like the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (-)
Cronbach's alpha .73
Inter-item Correlation (M) .35
We conducted multiple regression models to test the relationship between each genre and our
main outcomes of interest: positive resilience, psychological distress, and preparedness. Nine
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control variables were included in each genre model: sex, age, income, how much the participant
said they enjoyed watching movies and TV shows in general, and each TIPI dimension.
3.3 Horror fans
Being a horror fan was unrelated to positive resilience (b = 0.03, SE = 0.02, t = 1.21, p = .225)
and preparedness (b = 0.05, SE = 0.06, t = 1.50, p = .134). However, consistent with our
predictions, horror fandom was significantly associated with lower psychological distress (b = -
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0.10, SE = 0.03, t = -2.77, p = .006; Table 3).
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3.4 Prepper genre fans -p
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As predicted, fans of prepper genres (zombie, apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, and alien-invasion)
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were significantly more prepared for the pandemic (b = 0.11, SE = 0.04, t = 2.48, p = .014) and
experienced fewer negative disruptions in their life during the pandemic (b = -0.11, SE = -0.05, t
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= -2.18, p = .030; Table 3). However, being a fan of prepper genres was unrelated to positive
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resilience (b = 0.05, SE = 0.03, t = 1.66, p = .098).
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3.5 Consumption of pandemic films
When considering past use of pandemic films, 72 participants said they had never seen one, 143
said they had seen one or two, 73 said they had seen several, and 22 said they had seen many. An
ANCOVA controlling for TIPI, sex, age, and income indicated that use of pandemic films in the
past was significantly related to preparedness for the pandemic (F(3, 298) = 4.73, p = .003). A
Tukey’s HSD test revealed that participants who had never seen a pandemic film felt
significantly less prepared for the pandemic than those who had seen several (padj = .025) or
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many (padj = .006) pandemic films (Figure 1). Contrary to our predictions, past use of pandemic
films was not related to psychological distress (F(3, 298) = 1.95, padj = .122) or positive
resilience (F(3, 298) = 0.46, padj = .711).
When considering their current interest in pandemic films, 123 participants said they were not
interested, 89 said they were slightly interested, 66 said they were moderately interested, and 32
said they were very interested. An ANCOVA including the same controls as the past use model
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indicated that current interest in pandemic films was significantly associated with positive
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resilience (F(3, 298) = 4.00, p = .008), but not psychological distress (F(3, 298) = 1.24, p = .297)
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or preparedness (F(3, 298) = 0.812, p = .488). A Tukey’s HSD test revealed that participants
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who currently had a moderate interest in pandemic films had greater positive resilience during
the pandemic than those who had no current interest (padj = .008).
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na
ur
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Figure 1. Pandemic film use and preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic.
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3.6 Morbid Curiosity
The Morbid Curiosity Scale demonstrated strong internal reliability (ɑ = .92). Regression models
were conducted for the three main outcomes of interest while controlling for sex, age, income,
and TIPI scores. Analyses revealed that morbidly curious individuals experienced significantly
greater positive resilience during the pandemic (b = 0.20, SE = 0.05, t = 3.74, p < .001; Table 3).
There was no significant relationship between trait morbid curiosity and psychological distress (b
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= -0.06, SE = 0.08, t = -0.70, p = .483) or between trait morbid curiosity and preparedness (b =
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0.02, SE = 0.08, t = 0.20, p = .841).
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Table 3
Key Findings
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Horror Fan
Outcomes b SE t p
1.21 .225
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Positive Resilience 0.03 0.02
Psychological Distress -0.10 0.03 -2.77 .006
Preparedness 0.05 0.06 1.50 .134
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Prepper Genre Fan
Outcomes b SE t p
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Positive Resilience 0.05 0.03 1.66 .098
Psychological Distress -0.11 -0.05 -2.18 .030
Preparedness 0.11 0.04 2.48 .014
Morbid Curiosity
Outcomes b SE t p
Positive Resilience 0.20 0.05 3.74 <.001
Psychological Distress -0.06 0.08 -0.70 .483
Preparedness 0.02 0.08 0.20 .841
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Controlling for sex, age, income, and TIPI scores, ANCOVA results indicated that morbid
curiosity was significantly associated with past use of pandemic films (F(3, 298) = 3.32, p =
.020). Tukey’s HSD revealed that those who had seen many pandemic films were significantly
more morbidly curious than those who had never seen pandemic films (padj = .014). Current
interest in pandemic films was also significantly associated with trait morbid curiosity (F(3, 298)
= 8.92, p < .001). Tukey’s HSD indicated that those who were currently very interested in
pandemic films were significantly more morbidly curious than those who currently had no
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interest (padj < .001) or a slight interest (padj = .033) in pandemic films. Additionally, those who
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were currently moderately interested in pandemic films were more morbidly curious than those
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who had no current interest in pandemic films (padj < .001).
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4. Discussion
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What can we learn from a scary movie? Although most people go into a scary movie with the
na
intention of being entertained rather than learning something, scary stories present ample
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learning opportunities. Fiction allows the audience to explore an imagined version of the world
at very little cost. Through fiction, people can learn how to escape dangerous predators, navigate
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novel social situations, and practice their mind-reading and emotion regulation skills. In this
study, we show that people who engaged more frequently with frightening fictional phenomena,
such as horror fans and the morbidly curious, displayed more robust psychological resilience
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, watching films that deal with the social upheaval
that might occur during a pandemic was associated with greater reported preparedness for the
COVID-19 pandemic.
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One reason that horror use may correlate with less psychological distress is that horror fiction
allows its audience to practice grappling with negative emotions in a safe setting. Through
fearing the murderer or monster on the screen, audiences have an opportunity to practice emotion
regulation skills. Experiencing negative emotions in a safe setting, such as during a horror film,
might help individuals hone strategies for dealing with fear and more calmly deal with fear-
eliciting situations in real life (Gross, 1998; Shurick et al., 2012).
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Our design does not rule out the possibility that another trait (or set of traits) is influencing both
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horror fandom and psychological distress. For example, sensation-seeking is tied to a desire for
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greater arousal and associated with enjoyment of horror media (though the latter relationship is
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somewhat inconsistent. For review, see Martin, 2019). However, it is unclear how sensation
seeking would lead to increased positive resilience or preparedness for a pandemic. Moreover,
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the models used in our study do control for several individual differences, including general
na
enjoyment of films and TV shows, sex, age, extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability,
agreeableness, and openness.
ur
Jo
Interestingly, morbid curiosity and horror fandom predicted divergent types of psychological
resilience. While horror fandom predicted less psychological distress, morbidly curious
individuals experienced greater positive resilience. A history of watching horror films may help
build emotion regulation skills that can be utilized to ameliorate the psychological distress that
accompanies dysphoric events, but it might not offer strategies for enjoying life in the midst of
negative experiences. Instead of psychological buffering, morbid curiosity seems to promote
positive resilience - i.e., positive experiences in the face of threatening stimuli. Presumably, this
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occurs through a psychological shift in the cost-benefit ratio of approaching a potentially
dangerous stimulus. The morbidly curious individual may not see the pandemic as a terrible
negative event (or at least not only as that). Instead, the morbidly curious individual may see the
pandemic as an opportunity of sorts.
An analogy might be made in a hypothetical situation where two people stumble upon a dead
body. The first person, who is not morbidly curious, may look upon the body in horror and
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immediately shift their attention elsewhere. The second person, a morbidly curious individual,
ro
would instead look upon the body with amazement, their eyes glued to the corpse and their
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cognitive resources fully allocated to inspecting the body. Likewise, the morbidly curious
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individual may find ways to have positive experiences during the pandemic because the
pandemic is perceived as interesting. If the pandemic was perceived as less of a threat due to
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morbid curiosity, then it might be expected that morbidly curious individuals would experience
na
less psychological distress. The lack of a relationship between these two variables suggests that
morbid curiosity may lead to an increase in the perceived benefit of exploring a dangerous
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phenomenon rather than a decrease in the perceived threat of the phenomenon.
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Although our study does show that horror and prepper genre fans display better psychological
resilience in the face of the pandemic, it is still a correlational study. While we control for
several individual differences in our models to try to target the effect of horror or prepper genre
fandom, further research is needed to determine the exact nature of the causality. It is unclear
that simply watching more horror or prepper genre films would increase psychological resilience
across the board. It may also be the case that, for some individuals, watching more pandemic-
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themed movies could actually increase anxiety and psychological distress. The possible
mechanisms underlying benefits (or detriments) of frightening entertainment on psychological
resilience is a promising avenue for future research.
5. Conclusions
While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly everyone in one way or another, certain
people seem to be handling the psychological effects better than others. We tested the idea that
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experience with particular kinds of fiction, namely, horror and pandemic fiction, would be
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associated with better preparedness for and psychological resilience during the COVID-19
pandemic. Our findings support the idea that fiction can be a useful simulation of both specific
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scenarios – in the case of pandemic films – and generally fearful scenarios – in the case of horror
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films. Experience with these simulations may benefit the user through preparation and practice of
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both specific skills relevant to particular situations and more general skills associated with
emotion regulation. We also found that morbid curiosity, a personality trait that has been
na
previously associated with interest in horror (Scrivner, in press), was associated with greater
ur
positive resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, these effects were significant
Jo
even when controlling for age, sex, income, and general factors of personality. In sum, the
current study provides evidence that individual differences in both media preferences and
personality are associated with resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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CRediT Statement
C. Scrivner: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology,
Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing
J. A. Johnson: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review & editing
J. Kjeldgaard-Christiansen: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing
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M. Clasen: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing
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Funding: This work was supported by the Research Program for Media, Communication, and
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Society at the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University.
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Highlights
Fans of horror films exhibit less psychological distress during COVID-19
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Fans of “prepper” films reported being more prepared for the pandemic
Morbidly curious people exhibit greater positive resilience during COVID-19
Morbidly curious people are more interested in pandemic films during the
ur
pandemic
Jo
25
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FAQs
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What explains the relationship between horror fandom and psychological resilience during COVID-19?
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The study shows that horror fandom correlates with lower psychological distress (b = -0.10, p = .006), indicating that horror fans experienced fewer negative emotional states during the pandemic.
How does trait morbid curiosity influence psychological resilience in individuals?
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Morbidly curious individuals exhibited significantly greater positive resilience (b = 0.20, p < .001) during the pandemic, allowing them to maintain positive emotional experiences despite the circumstances.
What role do pandemic-themed films play in preparedness and resilience?
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Participants with a history of watching pandemic films reported greater preparedness (F(3, 298) = 4.73, p = .003), highlighting media consumption as a factor in navigating real-world crises.
When did participants show heightened interest in horror films during the pandemic?
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Participants reportedly became more interested in horror films within weeks of the COVID-19 declaration, suggesting that engagement peaks during times of crisis.
How did the study assess psychological resilience among participants?
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Psychological resilience was measured using a newly developed 13-item Pandemic Psychological Resilience Scale (PPRS), demonstrating good reliability (Cronbach's α = .86) for evaluating emotional states during the pandemic.
October 11, 2025
John Johnson
Pennsylvania State University, Faculty Member
John A. Johnson, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, joined the faculty in 1981, immediately after earning his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University. He spent the 1990-91 year as visiting professor and Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Research Fellow at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. He has published over three dozen journal articles and book chapters on the personality and evolutionary psychology of moral and educational development, career choice, and work performance. Dr. Johnson is a recognized expert on computerized psychological measurement. Over half a million persons have completed his on-line personality test, which received an award from MSNBC. He recently co-edited a book published by the American Psychological Association, Advanced Methods for Conducting Online Behavioral Research.
At the DuBois Campus, Dr. Johnson has taught General Psychology, Introduction to Personality Psychology, Theory of Personality, Psychology of Gender, Basic Research Methods in Psychology, Quantitative Methods for Humanists, Quantitative Methods in the Liberal Arts, Mental Health, Psychology of Adjustment, Introduction to Well-Being and Positive Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, College Survival Skills for Academic and Career Planning, Introduction to Developmental Psychology, Introduction to Human Development and Family Studies, Industrial Psychology, Human Relations in Organizations, and Technical Writing. He has also conducted several honors sections and seminars and supervised both independent study courses and internships in psychology. As a visiting instructor at the University Park Campus, Dr. Johnson has taught Industrial Psychology, Advanced Personality Research Methods, and a graduate seminar on Ideological Groups in Psychology. He has served on master’s and doctoral committees for both the Department of Psychology and Department of Counseling and Rehabilitative Education.
Dr. Johnson’s energies since joining Penn State in 1981 have been directed primarily toward increasing the quality of undergraduate education. He has been especially interested in improving his students’ critical thinking and in tailoring classroom experiences toward different learning styles. He has introduced a number of teaching innovations over the years, including student debates about controversial issues, journal-writing, musical performances in class, projects designed to appeal to students with different learning styles, and, most recently, student collaborative work on the Internet. Dr. Johnson was recognized by his students with the DuBois Campus Professor of the Year award in 1984. He received the Provost's Collaborative and Curricular Innovations Special Recognition Program Award in 1997, was awarded a first place STAR Project Award by the Jack P. Royer Center for Learning and Academic Technologies in 1998, and was designated a Penn State Teaching Fellow for Excellence in Teaching by the Penn State Alumni Society.
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Psychological Correlates of Movie Preferences in the Situation of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Tina Kubrak
Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 2023
The article presents the results of an empirical research, continuing the series of our works in the field of psychology of film, aimed at acquiring new information about the psychological patterns of how movies are chosen. We studied the relation between psychological characteristics of the individuals, the specifics of their psychological response, and the movie choices they made in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,109 individuals took part in the online survey during the quarantine period (May-June 2020). Data from 811 participants (283 male and 528 female) were selected for analysis. Almost half of the participants (46.1%) started watching movies more often in quarantine.
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Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media
John Johnson
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 2020
Horror entertainment is a thriving and paradoxical industry. Who are the consumers of horror, and why do they seek out frightening media? We provide support for the threat simulation theory of horror, according to which horror media provides a form of benign masochism that offers negative emotional stimulation through simulation of threat scenarios. Through an online survey of genre use and preference as well as personality traits and paranormal beliefs (n=1070), we find that sensation seeking and the fifth of the Big-Five factors, intellect/imagination, predict liking of horror and frequency of use. Gender, educational level, and age are also correlated with horror liking and frequency of use (males show higher liking and more frequent use, whereas liking and use frequency are negatively correlated with educational level and age). People with stronger beliefs in the paranormal tend to seek out horror media with supernatural content, whereas those with weaker beliefs in the paranormal gravitate toward horror media with natural content, suggesting that people seek out horror media with threatening stimuli that they perceive to be plausible. While frightening media may be initially aversive, people high in sensation seeking and intellect/imagination, in particular, like intellectual stimulation and challenge and expect not just negative but also positive emotions from horror consumption. They brave the initially aversive response to simulate threats and so enter a positive feedback loop by which they attain adaptive mastery through coping with virtual simulated danger.
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Bleeding-heart horror fans: Enjoyment of horror media is not related to lower empathy or compassion
Coltan Scrivner
The horror genre portrays some of the most graphic and violent scenes in media. How and why some people find enjoyment in such a graphic genre is an age-old question. One popular scientific hypothesis is that people lower in empathy are more likely to enjoy horror. In Study 1, I tested whether the general public also held this perception of horror fans. Participants in Study 1 predicted that horror fans would be lower in prosocial traits such as empathy, compassion, and kindness. In Study 2, I tested whether this perception was accurate. Contrary to how they are perceived, I found that enjoyment of horror movies is either unrelated or positively related to measures of empathy and compassion. In Study 3, participants who had previously reported how much they enjoyed five horror subgenres played a dictator game. Enjoyment of horror was unrelated to how much money a participant decided to donate to a less fortunate participant. These findings contradict beliefs from the public about ho...
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Binge-watching in times of COVID-19: A longitudinal examination of changes in affect and TV series consumption patterns during lockdown
Christine Mohr
Psychology of Popular Media, 2022
COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns have had major negative effects on individuals' mental health and psychological well-being. Isolated at home, people may engage in recreational activities such as binge-watching (i.e., viewing multiple episodes of a TV series in 1 session) as a strategy to regulate emotional states. This is the first longitudinal study assessing changes in TV series viewing patterns during the first COVID-19 lockdown and examining whether binge-watching was associated with changes in positive and negative affect throughout this period. TV series viewing practices and motivations, binge-watching behaviors, psychopathological symptoms, and affective states were jointly assessed through a 6-week longitudinal online survey at 3 time points (i.e., T1, T2, and T3), in Belgium, France, and Switzerland. Results showed significant increases in individuals' watching habits (e.g., higher daily time spent viewing, expansion of coviewing practices). Results from the longitudinal analyses principally showed that male gender and social motives for TV series watching predicted a decrease in negative affect levels. A problematic binge-watching pattern characterized by loss of control was the single predictor of an increase in negative affect over time. These findings suggest that TV series watching patterns effectively increased during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Watching TV series for social motives emerged as a protective factor, whereas problematic binge-watching seemed to act as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy throughout these unprecedented circumstances. Public Policy Relevance Statement This is the first large-scale longitudinal study specifically designed to explore the impact of TV series viewing practices on individuals' affective states during the first COVID-19 lockdown. TV series consumption patterns significantly increased over this period. Problematic binge-watching characterized by loss of control seemed to act as a maladaptive strategy to regulate emotional states, whereas watching TV series for social motives emerged as a protective factor in the lockdown context.
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Of Pandemics and Zombies: The Influence of Prior Concepts on COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Behaviors
Jessecae Marsh
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
We use a concepts and categories research perspective to explore how prior conceptual knowledge influences thinking about a novel disease, namely COVID-19. We collected measures of how similar people thought COVID-19 was to several existing concepts that may have served as other possible comparison points for the pandemic. We also collected participants’ self-reported engagement in pandemic-related behaviors. We found that thinking the COVID-19 pandemic was similar to other serious disease outbreaks predicted greater social distancing and mask-wearing, whereas likening COVID-19 to the seasonal flu predicted engaging in significantly fewer of these behaviors. Thinking of COVID-19 as similar to zombie apocalypse scenarios or moments of major societal upheaval predicted stocking-up behaviors, but not disease mitigation behaviors. These early category comparisons influenced behaviors over a six-month span of longitudinal data collection. Our findings suggest that early conceptual compar...
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Adjustment Disorder in the Face of COVID-19 Outbreak: The Impact of Death Anxiety, Media Exposure, Fear of Contagion and Hypochondriasis Symptoms
Osnat Lavenda
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying
Based on the theoretical view of Terror Management Theory, the current research examines whether higher levels of death anxiety symptoms, in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, increase the extent to which participants are exposed to information regarding the spread of the pandemic, as well as the fear of contagion and symptoms of hypochondriasis, which all in turn increase symptoms of adjustment disorder. A total number of 302 participants filled out self-report questionnaires regarding death anxiety, adjustment disorder, the extent of exposure to information regarding COVID-19, fear of contagion, hypochondriasis, and demographic information. Structural Equation Modeling analysis indicated a very good fit of the theoretical model with the data, confirming the mediation effect of exposure to information, fear of contagion, and symptoms of hypochondriasis on the association between death anxiety and adjustment disorder symptoms. Implications for practice are discussed.
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"More of a Training Film": Watching Fictional Outbreak Narratives during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Amanda Nell Edgar
Southern Journal of Communication, 2022
Using interviews with twenty-eight people who watched fictional outbreak narratives early in the Covid-19 pandemic, we argue that the genre helped viewers process the abstract uncertainty of the time through concrete sound and imagery. Viewers used critical distance to separate the real life horrors of the moment and the mediated “horrors” of the films. In doing so, audiences simultaneously pulled the films close to build their own pandemic grammar and held the films at a distance to reassure themselves about their own – and society’s – odds for survival. This approach to media selection and consumption has implications for media studies during times of collective trauma, as it demonstrates the ways narratives about suffering inform social response in sometimes unexpected ways.
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Doomsurfing and doomscrolling mediate psychological distress in COVID‐19 lockdown: Implications for awareness of cognitive biases
Maya Sahu
Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 2021
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant increase in the consumption of the internet for work, leisure time activities, and has also generated substantial amounts of anxiety, and uncertainty, which has lead individuals to spend a lot of time surfing the internet for the latest news on developments in the COVID-19 crisis. This ends up as scrolling or surfing through a lot of pessimistic news items. This search for information during COVID-19 is apparently influenced by a number of cognitive biases as well as mediated by poor affect regulation skills. Thus, there is a need to address these cognitive biases and promote affect regulation strategies across health settings. K E Y W O R D S cognitive bias, doomscrolling, doomsurfing, healthy use of technology, psychological distress The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has propelled a substantial increase in the consumption of the internet for both work and leisure activities across the globe. In recent months, the consumption of news over digital mediums has increased by around 35% and through social media by nearly 47% during the COVOD-19 pandemic and related lockdowns across the world. 1 In the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, which has How to cite this article: Anand N, Sharma MK, Thakur PC, et al. Doomsurfing and doomscrolling mediates psychological distress in COVID-19 lockdown: Implications for awareness of cognitive biases.
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Horror Films and Grief
Jonny Lee
Emotion Review, 2021
Many of the most popular and critically acclaimed horror films feature grief as a central theme. This article argues that horror films are especially suited to portraying and communicating the phenomenology of grief. We explore two overlapping claims. First, horror is well suited to represent the experience of grief, in particular because the disruptive effects of horror “monsters” on protagonists mirror the core experience of disruption that accompanies bereavement. Second, horror offers ways in which the experience of grief can be contained and regulated and, in doing so, may offer psychological benefits for the bereaved. While our focus will be squarely on film, much of what we say applies to other media.
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Imaginary worlds through the evolutionary lens: Ultimate functions, proximate mechanisms, cultural distribution
Edgar Dubourg
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
We received several commentaries both challenging and supporting our hypothesis. We thank the commentators for their thoughtful contributions, bringing together alternative hypotheses, complementary explanations, and appropriate corrections to our model. Here, we explain further our hypothesis, using more explicitly the framework of evolutionary social sciences. We first explain what we believe is the ultimate function of fiction in general (i.e., entertainment) and how this hypothesis differs from other evolutionary hypotheses put forward by several commentators. We then turn to the proximate features that make imaginary worlds entertaining and, therefore, culturally successful. We finally explore how these insights may explain the distribution of imaginary worlds across time, space, age, and social classes.
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Horror and Its Dark Visions
Forrest Sopuck
The Aesthetics of Horror Films, 2021
This chapter presents a theory I call "the sport model of horror". By appealing to this model, I clarify the effectiveness of a number of horror's quintessential plot, cinematic, and visual devices, and trace a logical trajectory of advances in horror's scare value, one that ultimately tends towards increases in representations of indiscriminate violence (and arbitrary harm) within the genre. The chapter explores a number of peculiarities and important expansions concerning the model. A Neo-Santayanan doctrine of expression factors into these expansions, and supplies a novel framework by which to understand how horror films are themselves proper aesthetic objects despite the fact that it is an activity of the percipient that is the primary aesthetic object, according to this model.
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