A new study published in the journal Emotion showed that visiting a haunted house together with others is associated with a feeling of greater closeness. The decisive role, apparently, is played not by the fright itself but by discussing the experience afterward.
Researchers conducted five studies over three Halloween seasons at the commercial attraction Gainesville Fear Garden in Florida. The first survey involved 986 visitors immediately after they went through the haunted house. About 48% agreed that the experience had brought them closer to the person in the group they were already closest to. Stronger fear predicted a higher rating of closeness: each additional point of fear on a 7-point scale was associated with roughly one-fifth of a point of increase on the closeness question. Holding hands, talking during the attraction and enjoyment also predicted higher ratings. This is a correlation - a statistical association that by itself does not prove causation.
In the second study, 500 people filled out questionnaires before and after the attraction. 58% reported feeling closer, but the difference between closeness ratings before and after was negligible: on average 6.27 out of 7 before entering and 6.12 after coming out. The researchers suggested a ceiling effect: relationships were rated so highly to begin with that the scale had nowhere to rise.
The third study, with 554 participants, focused on the least close person in the group. About 45% reported feeling closer to that person, and about 64% reported the whole group feeling closer. Fear and physical contact again turned out to be strong predictors.
The fourth study, the only one with preregistration (that is, with an analysis plan fixed in advance), involved 263 people. This time a statistically significant increase in closeness to the least close companion was recorded: from 4.61 to 4.81 points out of 7, on average just 0.21 points.
The fifth study - 20 personal interviews - helped explain this gap. Sixteen of the 20 people said that discussing, laughing and exchanging stories about the fright after the attraction (for example, on the way home) was important for the feeling of closeness. Fourteen noted the novelty of the experience, and many said that mutual dependence in the dark and fear created a sense of vulnerability.
The authors emphasize limitations: all the studies took place at one attraction, whose format changed from year to year, and did not compare visitors with people who did something unscary together. Therefore it cannot be claimed that it is specifically fear that brings people closer, rather than simply shared leisure. Closeness was measured with a single question, and in the interviews participants were told in advance about the previous null results. The surveys were conducted in the attraction's noisy bar, which could also have influenced the answers.
In addition, only about half of the participants felt closer, while a noticeable minority did not. The authors suggest that with strongly mismatched reactions to fear or a lack of support, such an experience may instead strain a relationship. They also plan an experiment in which some participants will be given time to discuss the experience and some will not, in order to test causation.