Jordan Peele's new film "Nope" comes out this weekend. The thriller has gotten raving preliminary reviews from horror fans. But horror is not everyone's cup of tea -- in fact, some people can't understand why others enjoy the genre.
Mike Mahon is a doctor of clinical psychology and host of the "Psych with Mike" podcast. He talked with KMOX about the psychology behind why people enjoy horror and suspense films. He said there are three leading theories, and the first one is called the excitation transfer.
"You go to a scary movie, and there's a resolution, then, to the tension. And these individuals in particular, are very sensitive to that resolution," Mahon said. "And they get a big charge out of that resolution in their dopamine levels and their hormone levels, like endorphins and things like that."
The other theory is individual empathy. Mahon explained that people who have high empathy can't draw as much of a distinction between themselves and movie characters -- so they don't like horror movies as much.
"People who have less of an empathic response may enjoy horror movies more because they don't identify as much with the individuals who are in the movie," he said.
The third theory is sensation seeking, which says that horror movies activate the fight-or-flight syndrome in our brains, which results in a "cascade of hormones."
"You get a dump of adrenaline, a dump of dopamine, a dump of endorphins. And all of this in combination just makes you feel really, really good," Mahon said. "They enjoy that hormone kind of soup. And for them that is a pleasurable experience."
Listen to the full conversation from Total Information AM to hear more:
