According to an experiment, it should make a difference whether someone watches a horror film alone or with someone else. The stress level should be lower with support, they say.
New York – With a horror film experiment, US researchers have further substantiated the assumption that emotional support for one’s partner protects against stress.
Scientists working with Tyler Graff from Brigham Young University in Utah and Joseph Fitzgerald from Arizona State University had 83 couples watch horror films as they were written in the specialist magazine “Plos One”.
Either with the support of their partner, for example holding hands, or alone, the participants watched excerpts from the horror films “I know what you did last summer” and “I still know what you did last summer” – as well as for comparison Excerpts from a nature documentary about Alaska. The dilatation of their pupils was measured. Dilated pupils are an indicator of stress.
When watching the horror film excerpts, the pupils of the participants dilated more than when watching the nature documentary – this reaction was diminished if someone was there and provided support, for example by holding hands. The effect was even more pronounced when the relationship was perceived as fundamentally solidarity.
However, the scientists also note that measuring the dilation of the pupils is a new approach in this context and that further research is required. dpa
