Viewers of horror and scary movies, particularly 6- to 10-year-olds, could experience fright long after the final credits – a phenomenon known by communication scholars as “lingering fears.”
Glenn Sparks, a professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication in the College Liberal Arts at Purdue University, is an expert and author on media effects research. Sparks specializes in studying the effects of frightening and violent media, like horror movies and video games. He says, “With Hollywood releasing films like ‘Joker,’ ‘IT Chapter Two,’ and the upcoming ‘Doctor Sleep,’ viewers may want to count the potential costs of exposure — costs that the film industry does not go out of the way to warn us about. But the research is clear: Many viewers will experience regret after watching these movies because of the lingering fears that they are capable of inducing.”
I had a chance to interview him to learn more.
What exactly are lingering fears?
Lingering fear is a term used to describe the situation where a fear felt during a viewing experience endures for some period of time after the movie is over A fear might linger for a few hours or even for much longer— sometimes even for months or years.Some adults who watched Hitchcock’s Psycho and were scared by the shower scene, still get scared when they take a shower years later and peek around the shower curtain to make sure no one is there. That’s a lingering fear. The movie, Jaws, induced similar fears for people who were afraid of the shark scenes in the movie and had difficulty going swimming months or even years later.
Why do the fears persist after movies are over, even for kids that may know it's "just a movie?” First, the amygdala in the brain functions to store our fearful experiences and hangs on to them sos it can serve as a warning system focus later on. The brain wants to be able to tell us that we’re going to face a similar situation to the one that scared us. The amygdala doesn’t want to forget the fearful moments and hangs on to them for a long time.
Second, knowing that something is”just a movie” may help to reduce fear a bit but it isn’t necessarily effective in many circumstances. Many frightening movies are specifically designed to convince the viewer that the scary things depicted are actually possible in the viewer’s real world and if the movie does that well, it makes it more difficult to handle the fear by just reminding yourself that 'it’s only a movie.”Our brains did not evolve to discount images and situations that appear to be real.So telling ourselves that it’s only a movie is trying to go against thousands of years of brain evolution that disposes us to treat the things we see as real.
Why do scary movies remain popular?
They are not generally popular. Most of the top grossing movies are not scary ones. However, there is a smaller segment of the population that seeks out this sort of entertainment and they provide Hollywood with a reliable, stable, audience to continue catering to with this genre. People who like these movies may enjoy the adrenalin rush they provide, the gratification they feel from conquering a threat, or the novel images that they provide the can’t be seen in common, everyday experience.
How can parents make sure kids (or themselves) are not in a position where they're going to have ongoing fears?
It is important for parents to stay in close touch with their children so that they learn the sorts of things that might upset them.It is also important to know as much as possible about a movie before risking exposure. I recommend that parents check out movie content on the kids.in.mind web site so they have a good idea beforehand what their child might see.
MORE INFORMATION: Sparks also researches paranormal depictions in media. He is author of “Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview” and co-author of “A First Look at Communication Theory” and “Refrigerator Rights: Our Crucial Need for Close Connection.” More information about Sparks’ research on lingering fears can be found here.
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