ABSTRACT
Threats to survival from predators and hostile conspecifics have led all species to possess cognitive architecture for predator management. Some animals display a curiosity for predators, engaging in behaviors such as predator inspection. The costs associated with learning about predators and other threats are high in most of the animal kingdom. In humans, the ability to imaginatively simulate threatening situations has drastically reduced the cost of learning about threats. This cost reduction has resulted in an explosion of what I call morbid curiosity, or the motivation to learn about potential threats. Humans often engage in morbid curiosity for entertainment, deriving pleasure from safe exposure to hypothetical threats. Historically, scholars have referred to the popularity of frightening entertainment as the paradox of horror. In this dissertation, I provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for the psychological study of morbid curiosity. I argue that morbid curiosity derives from an evolved cognitive architecture for predator management, is powered by curiosity, and, in humans, is amplified by the capacity for imagination. After presenting a theoretical framework for morbid curiosity, I present a set of studies in which I develop and validate the Morbid Curiosity Scale, a measure of individual differences in morbid curiosity. I then present two studies looking at how individual differences in morbid curiosity predict information gathering and psychological resilience during a novel threat - the COVID-19 global pandemic. I conclude by discussing the implications of the present research, offering suggestions for future research, and proposing that a clear understanding of morbid curiosity can dissolve the paradox of horror. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Threats to survival from predators and hostile conspecifics have led all species to possess cognitive architecture for predator management. Some animals display a curiosity for predators, engaging in behaviors such as predator inspection. The costs associated with learning about predators and other threats are high in most of the animal kingdom. In humans, the ability to imaginatively simulate threatening situations has drastically reduced the cost of learning about threats. This cost reduction has resulted in an explosion of what I call morbid curiosity, or the motivation to learn about potential threats. Humans often engage in morbid curiosity for entertainment, deriving pleasure from safe exposure to hypothetical threats. Historically, scholars have referred to the popularity of frightening entertainment as the paradox of horror. In this dissertation, I provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for the psychological study of morbid curiosity. I argue that morbid curiosity derives from an evolved cognitive architecture for predator management, is powered by curiosity, and, in humans, is amplified by the capacity for imagination. After presenting a theoretical framework for morbid curiosity, I present a set of studies in which I develop and validate the Morbid Curiosity Scale, a measure of individual differences in morbid curiosity. I then present two studies looking at how individual differences in morbid curiosity predict information gathering and psychological resilience during a novel threat - the COVID-19 global pandemic. I conclude by discussing the implications of the present research, offering suggestions for future research, and proposing that a clear understanding of morbid curiosity can dissolve the paradox of horror. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)