Why Can’t We Look Away From Disaster?
I, too, am morbidly curious.
Have you ever been immobilized by a news story covering a tragic event, or felt an irresistible urge to slow down and gaze at the aftermath of a road accident? Welcome to the intriguing world of morbid curiosity.
This compelling phenomenon can sometimes seem perplexing, but it’s a fundamental part of human nature. Let’s delve into the complex psychology behind our fascination with the macabre.
What is Morbid Curiosity?
Morbid curiosity can be defined as an intense interest in gruesome or distressing events.¹ It’s what keeps us glued to horror movies, crime reports, disaster news, and even weird online content featuring everything from pimple-popping videos to unsettling Reddit threads.
But why are we so compelled to expose ourselves to such unsettling experiences? 🔎
The Role of Survival Instincts
According to research, our reaction to disturbing events is intrinsically linked to our survival instincts.² When we encounter a disaster, be it through a live source or a media report, our brain’s amygdala is stimulated.³
This part of the brain, responsible for emotions (most predominantly fear), survival tactics, and memory, sends signals to the frontal cortex, which analyzes and interprets the data.
If our brain deems the disaster a potential threat, it triggers a ‘fight, flight or flee (or even fawn)’ response, causing a surge in adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine. This heightened state of alert and the thrill-of-the-chase effects of dopamine can make it difficult to look away from the source of horror.
But as there’s no real danger, the physical manifestations of fear, such as increased breathing rate and muscle tension, soon give way to a surge of relief. This cycle of stress and relief is akin to the joys of riding a roller coaster. You can get off it at the end by choice — that’s the beauty of the attraction and our engagement with morbid content.
The Role of Morbid Curiosity in Horror Media Consumption
Studies suggest that those who regularly engage with horror media may be better equipped to handle real-life dangerous situations.⁵ This is largely because horror films provide a safe environment for audiences to confront their fears and practice emotional coping strategies.
Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that fans of horror films exhibited greater resilience during the crisis.⁵ It was also noted that fans of ‘prepper’ genres, including films about alien invasions, apocalypses, and zombies, showed both greater resilience and preparedness.
So, my fellow Last of Us, The Walking Dead and Far Cry fans, rejoice: we’re actually doing ourselves a service by engrossing ourselves in these dark fantasy worlds. 💪
The Attraction of Disaster
Despite the inherent negativity and potential harm associated with disasters, we often find ourselves drawn towards them. This attraction goes beyond the mere thrill of confronting our fears and then experiencing the relief of it not being real to us, however.
As psychiatrist Dr. David Henderson explains: witnessing violence and destruction allows us to explore ultimate questions related to death, pain, despair, and survival, while still enjoying a sense of safety.⁴
Engaging with morbid content enables us to model potential futures, gather information about dangerous situations, and learn how to prepare for similar circumstances in real life. This is particularly evident in the context of pandemic and apocalyptic fiction.
The abundance of forums where people share tips in preparation of such scenarios, and the fact that most of us have lived through at least the COVID pandemic ourselves, demonstrates there’s a practical purpose to preparing yourself by watching available media on such topics.
What about our gut instinct?
But what about the disappearance of OceanGate’s Titan, for instance? Why is this such a topic of intrigue for us? Most of us aren’t able or willing to pay € 250.000 to venture miles below the ocean’s surface despite our gut instinct telling us to, please, not take the risk. It is therefore not a scenario we’re likely to want or feel the need to prepare ourselves for.
I mean that part about our gut instinct literally, by the way: our brains are wired to induce anxiety in us when faced with a risk of death. Most of us are aware of our fight, flight, flee (and fawn) instinct. This is precisely that.
Granted, this instinct does not usually take into account that we now have advanced tech to keep us safe and in that respect reasons rather from a very primal, reptilian brained point of view — but the point stands. 🦎
Perhaps our reluctance to answer a hypothetical invitation to a trip into the depths of the ocean is precisely what results in our collectively piqued interest. That is: we won’t take the risk ourselves, but seeing others do it and meet an untimely demise triggers two of our biases: confirmation bias, and negativity bias.
Confirmation bias entails our inclination to recognising and memorising information that our pre-existing information (including feelings and thoughts) agree with. Negativity bias is our inclination to focus on negative outcomes more so than positive ones.
Case in point: the Titan’s implosion confirms what our gut instinct might’ve told us had we been presented the opportunity to go visit the Titanic’s wreck in it, and it equally allows our negativity bias to say: “Told you so.”
The Connection Between Morbid Curiosity and Empathy
Morbid curiosity isn’t just about confronting fear; it’s also about empathy. As humans, we’re wired to share in the experiences of others. This empathy can extend to disastrous situations, helping us understand and process the human element of these events.
The act of witnessing a disaster could as such trigger empathy, prompting us to consider how we would react in similar circumstances, and fostering a sense of connection with those affected.
This, too, is something most people are hard-wired to lean into. We’re social creatures and at our very core, we want our species to survive and thrive. Empathy played a crucial part in this back when (at least our western) society wasn’t quite so individualized — it was a condition that had to be met for us all to survive, in fact.⁶
On the other hand: schadenfreude
While morbid curiosity can inspire empathy, it can also lead towards schadenfreude, or deriving satisfaction from the misfortunes of others. 😬
Evolutionary psychologists might reason that this is part of the whole survival of the fittest mechanism, as coined by Herbert Spencer (not Darwin!): seeing someone trip up would’ve enhanced our chance of survival and procreation way back when.⁶
Now, there’s a difference between having a laugh at the expense of a friend who awkwardly tripped over their own two left feet and got away unharmed in the end, and going on a celebrity misfortune binge.
Enter all the memes about the passengers of OceanGate’s TITAN in 3, 2, 1 …
The ‘Dark Side’ of Morbid Curiosity
Kidding. Let’s instead discuss an arguably darker side of morbid curiosity. Don’t be alarmed: everyone entertains these darker thoughts to some degree, and I’d venture to say that’s not hyperbole.
The process of acknowledging and accepting our darker inclinations can transform these ‘devils’ into ‘angels’, fostering self-understanding and acceptance, and attests to a rather Jungian approach.
Carl Jung never shied away from stating how important our ‘shadow self’ — our baser, repressed thoughts, feelings, desires, et cetera–and our acceptance of it is.
Apart from the somewhat eccentric name of this concept and the importance he assigned to it, it is an idea I agree with in broad lines. I don’t do this randomly — it has been proven countless times that putting a tight perimeter around your emotions, thoughts and desires is detrimental to our health.⁸⁹
Morbid Curiosity and the Fear of Death
Another aspect of morbid curiosity revolves around fascination with death. Many of us are inherently curious about death because it’s an inescapable part of life, yet it remains largely unknowable. We’ve all asked ourselves what comes after death, right?
This curiosity, however, extends to supernatural creatures like zombies, vampires, and monsters — all often involving death in some way or form, and therefore indicative of our desire to understand the enigma of death.
For some, engaging with morbid content might help foster a healthy acceptance of death as an integral part of life. It can also inspire us to appreciate the present moment more fully, emphasizing the transient and precious nature of life. But it’s not all rainbows and butterflies …
Coping with Disaster
Even if we’re not directly affected by a disaster, continuous exposure to distressing news can have a negative impact on our mental health and wellbeing.
It’s therefore essential to find balance and take steps to protect your emotional health, especially if you notice you feel worse in any way after witnessing any type of morbid content. This could involve setting limits on disaster coverage, removing news apps that feed distressing content, and actively steering conversations away from distressing topics.
Curiosity Killed the Cat, but Satisfaction Brought It Back
In essence, morbid curiosity, while seemingly dark and unsettling, is an integral facet of our psychological makeup. It has its roots in our survival instincts, empathy, and quest for understanding the mysteries of life and death.
I’m guilty of it myself — I’m part of those true crime lovers that’ll spend hours tearing through documentaries and articles discussing unsolved crimes out of utter intrigue.
While some or even many of us may not be affected beyond feeling disturbed, understanding our fascination with the macabre can help us navigate our reactions to distressing events and foster resilience in the face of adversity. So, the next time you find yourself captivated by a horror flick or a gruesome news story, remember: it’s just your morbid curiosity at play. 👻
Reference list
- Scrivner, C. and Stubbersfield, J. (2022) ‘Curious about threats: Morbid curiosity and interest in conspiracy theories’ [Online]. Available at: doi:10.31219/osf.io/7fubx
- Steimer, T. (2002) ‘The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors’, Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 231–249 [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181681/
- Bacter, M.G. and Croxson, P.L. (2012) ‘Facing the role of the amygdala in emotional information processing’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), vol. 109, no. 52 [Online]. Available at https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1219167110
- Page, D. (2017) ‘The Science Behind Why We Can’t Look Away From Tragedy’, NBC News [Online]. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/science-behind-why-we-can-t-look-away-disasters-ncna804966
- Scrivner, C. et al. (2020) ‘Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic’, Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 168 [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7492010/
- Schulz, A.W. (2017) ‘The evolution of empathy’, in H.L. Mailbom (Ed.) The Routledge handbook of philosophy of empathy. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 66–73 [Online]. Available at: http://people.ku.edu/~a382s825/The%20Evolution%20of%20Empathy%20RD.pdf
- Desai, R. (2020) ‘We’ve Completely Misunderstood ‘Survival of the Fittest,’ Evolutionary Biologists Say’, The Swaddle [Online]. Available at: https://theswaddle.com/weve-completely-misunderstood-survival-of-the-fittest-evolutionary-biologists-say/
- Patel, J. and Patel, P. (2019) ‘Consequences of Repression of Emotion: Physical Health, Mental Health and General Well Being’, Psychotherapy Practice and Research, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 16–21 [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2574-612X.ijpr-18-2564.
- Cardi, V. et al. (2021) ‘The impact of emotion regulation and mental health difficulties on health behaviours during COVID19’, Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 143, pp. 409–415 [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8514266/
