The psychology to why young people like horrors

A lot of young people go to horror films because they want excitement. They want to be frightened and go through a thrilling experience. A lot of young people choose thrilling activities because they want to experience the adrenaline rush. Horror films provide a lot of different emotions throughout the film. They are really engaging due to the content within them, being unusual and not things you would see on a day to day basis. They have disturbing images and make sway people from one emotion to the other, Horrors need to be payed attention to when watching them, as they aim to control the viewers

through an emotional experience. 

Thrillers are used for social integration, and personal values, and therefore is a very popular genre. A lot of people also watch thrillers as it helps them escape the real world, they use the emotions and story to emerge themselves in the experience of the fictional world.

People may watch thrillers to gain insight to other circumstances and to identify with others, as someone they know is going through an experience/issue, so they might use the movie as a way to understand and relate. 

A lot of people watch films when they are together for an occasion or to come together, this can be a special moment for younger teens because this is the culture they were brought up in. Movies are used in social gatherings, whether day or night, and can bring people with similar interests together.

The psychological aspect of thriller films aids conversation because people like to boast about working out the ending before their friends. Thrillers are shown a lot in schools, to show a clear difference in behaviour, and help teach what is good from bad. most thrillers have a clear good character and a clear bad character. This could encourage people’s behaviour, as they can relate and identify with the characters. A person may be able to gain insight into themselves by seeing similarities between them and a character. 

I asked people what their main reasons for watching thrillers were and these were the main answers. 

3 of the most popular answers were:

1. Being able to experience danger without actually being in danger. - A lot of people said this because it gives them an adrenaline rush without there being any harm, the adrenaline releases endorphins in the brain causing a good feeling.
2. Action, suspense, anxiety, drama all of these things are hard to turn away from- Thrillers create a lot of different emotions, for the viewer. The viewers get to experience a fluctuation of emotions in under 2 hours, which is very exciting because of the constant spikes in endorphins. 
3.  The unknown aspect of most thrillers is quite exciting - I think this related to a lot of people, as the exciting thing about thrillers is that you don't know what’s going to happen next, humans have a natural tendency to be curious, so when plot points are released in a pace rather than all at ones, the viewer gets to experience and learn new points as the movie plays on. a great thriller has a complex story line and can be challenging in a good way to follow, so as a viewer you are always guessing what is going to happen next.