Charged Magazine

Day: November 24, 2024

  • The Psychology of Fear and Why We Seek it Out

    If you’re a fan of Halloween, there’s a good chance you partook in one of America’s favorite passtimes this spooky season: watching a great horror movie. Something about getting cozy on the couch and watching a bloody zombie attack, or a thrilling ghost possession, and feeling all the fear and emotions that come with it can quite the thrill. If any of this resonates with you, I ask you to consider the question, “Why do you watch horror movies out?” In every other aspect of our lives, horror is an emotion we find undesirable and seek to avoid. So why do we, in special circumstances, purposely seek out these feelings of fear? If you love horror movies but have never deeply explored what draws you to them, I encourage you to keep reading. If you are one of those people that hates horror and can never understand how so many people get enjoyment out of watching scary movies, stick around and you might get a better understanding of why.

     

    There are many different reasons that someone could enjoy horror movies, and the appeal can vary based on the individual. One common thread between horror-enjoyers, however, is the thrill that horror provides. Thrill is a difficult emotion to describe, as it can describe emotions associated with extremely positive or negative experiences. A thrill is often defined as a “pierce of emotion” and is often present in high-adrenaline activities, such as skydiving or riding rollercoasters. People who really enjoy this feeling, also known as thrill-seekers, are likely to be especially prone to enjoying horror movies. This relates to the similar concept of sensation-seeking, which is the phenomenon where people desire intense sensations and experiences. Sensation-seeking is a strong indicator of one’s enjoyment of horror films for both genders, but it is notably a stronger indicator for men’s enjoyment of horror films.

     

    Men and women enjoy horror for different reasons. For men, thrill and adventure-seeking personalities are strong indicators for horror enjoyment, whereas for women, disinhibition is a stronger sensation-seeking indicator. Disinhibition refers to a lack of restraint, or a willingness to engage in risky or socially unacceptable behaviors. Women who have high levels of disinhibition are likely to find enjoyment in horror media.

     

    On the topic of gender differences, there is strong evidence that men generally enjoy consuming horror more than women. Proposed reasonings for this are that women tend to be more prone to feelings of disgust and anxiety than men, and this can cause them to be turned off from horror. Additionally, studies have shown that women have higher levels of empathy than men, and will be less likely to find enjoyment in the suffering that typically occurs in horror films.

     

    There are many reasons why people may be drawn to horror, but one of the most widely accepted theories is Dr. Dolf Zillmann’s excitation transfer theory, which poses that we are drawn to horror because of the feelings we get from witnessing high suspense and resolution. According to this theory, as we watch a negative, suspenseful buildup, we experience high emotions that are later converted into euphoria as the suspense ends and a resolution occurs.

     

    Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “What about horror movies that feature suspense without a resolution? How could we find enjoyment in those?” This is an extremely relevant question, as many horror films do not have happy endings, and fill us with a sense of dread by their lack of a resolution, rather than the comfort that a happy ending would bring. I would argue that horror films without a true resolution still allow us to feel the same euphoria by providing a pseudo-resolution that lies within the realization that we are consuming media. Even if a horror movie has a horrible ending, with no hope for the characters or world, we are able to experience the joy of existing in the safety and comfort of our own world and realizing that the fear and discomfort we are feeling is not real. I would argue that this is a resolution in itself, from the perspective of the viewer.

     

    This takes me to my final point about horror enjoyment, which I feel that many people can probably relate to. While we do not usually enjoy experiencing fear in most facets of our everyday lives, film and media give us a chance to experience these strong emotions which we typically avoid, in a safe and controlled environment. The contrast between the visceral fear our bodies are experiencing, and the mental certainty that we are not actually in danger allows us to enjoy an emotion that we usually hate. This embodies the same concept of how we feel riding roller coasters. Our bodies sense danger, but our minds know we are safe.

     

    So, next time you sit down to watch a horror movie, think about what’s really pulling you in. Is it the thrill, the suspense, or the satisfaction of facing fear on your own terms? Whatever it is, remember: fear isn’t always something to avoid—it’s sometimes something to embrace.

     

     

     

     

    Works Cited

     

    Martin, G. N. (2019). (why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to Horror films. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298

     

    Neurominded. (2023, October 31). The Spooky Science of Horror Movies: Why Do We Enjoy Being Scared?. Inspire The Mind. https://www.inspirethemind.org/post/the-spooky-science-of-horror-movies-why-do-we-enjoy-being-scared

     

    Zuckerman, E. (2017, February 24). Get Out is one of the most terrifying movies in years — because it’s so smart. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/2/24/14698632/get-out-review-jordan-peele

     

  • Navigating Transition in Higher Education – An Analysis of Transfer Students at Tech

    Navigating Transition in Higher Education – An Analysis of Transfer Students at Tech

    While often an overlooked and unrepresented population consisting of 1,252,418 students, or roughly 15% of the undergraduate student population at public 4-year institutions, transfer students now more than ever are now making up a larger percentage of student bodies across the country’s 4-year colleges and universities. Created to better help education leaders address policy centered around the enrollment impacts that transfer students can have on an educational institution, research published by the National Student Clearinghouse addresses enrollment demographic characteristics and transfer behaviors of over 11 million undergraduate transfer students from fall 2023 over a fixed panel of institutions that have committed to providing data integral to understanding the transfer rates. On top of that, the report published in February of 2024 also provides insight into why students choose to transfer.

    Up about 3% from years prior, overall undergraduate enrollment of transfer students saw a 5.4% increase, roughly a jump of 65,000 students, in 2023, with around 70% of these students transferring through Transfer Pathway Programs. Transfer Pathway Programs, such as the Georgia Tech Fine Arts & Sciences Transfer Pathway Program, are great ways for students who were not offered admittance to a college or university to still have a chance to later attend.

    Georgia Tech specifically admitted 1,440 transfer students out of the 6,052 total transfer applicants for the 2024 academic year. This transfer class profile pulled from a diverse background of students from 240 total colleges across 43 different states; with around 1125 of these students transferring into Georgia Tech through a transfer pathway program. The Institute in total enrolls over 20,000 undergraduate students in total, however, the school transfer admittance rate is still competitive to that of its standard admittance rate, of which 33% of in-state applicants are admitted and 10% of the institute’s out-of-state applicants are admitted in 2024. Therefore, an admittance of 33% for in-state transfer students and admitting 20% of its out-of-state transfer applicants in 2024 roughly mirrors first-year admittance for the school in general, and even slightly favors out-of-state students.

    Transferring in general also provides many benefits past having an educational background that is diverse from your peers. Using even more stats from Georgia Tech’s 2024 transfer class, the average transfer student transferred with over 40 credit hours of coursework already completed, which is roughly equal to 3 semester’s worth of course-work. Not only does this put transfer students significantly ahead of the curve regarding the overall completion of their degree, but it also possibly saves students thousands of dollars in tuition if the student transferred from a school that costs less, and with more than 40% of students in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree beginning their undergraduate education at a 2-year school or community college, the likely-hood of this being the case is very high (Zuckerman & Lo,  2021). A 2024 report from the Education Data Initiative indicates that the average cost of tuition is up 4.11% year-over-year; with the average tuition of an in-state student at a public 4-year institution being roughly $10,000, the average tuition of an out-of-state student at a public 4-year institution being more than $25,000, and the average cost of tuition for a student at a 2-year institution being less than $5,000 a semester. Therefore, an undergraduate student at a 2-year institution pays roughly 50-80% less than their counterpart at a public 4-year institution. All of this is to say that there is a high likelihood that those 3 semester’s worth of credit hours for an in-state student potentially costs $15,000 less for an in-state transfer student, and $60,000 for an out-of-state transfer student, both of which are no small sum.

    So with roughly 15% of the undergraduate student population at public 4-year institutions such as Georgia Tech now consisting of transfer students, now more than ever transfer students, an overlooked and unrepresented population of students, are on the rise. 

     

    References

    Georgia Institute of Technology . (n.d.). 2024 transfer class profile – undergraduate admission. 2024 TRANSFER CLASS PROFILE. https://admission.gatech.edu/images/pdf/2024TransferProfile.pdf

    Georgia Institute of Technology. (n.d.). Student demographics. Student Demographics |Institutional Research & Planning. https://irp.gatech.edu/disclosures/student-demographics

    Hanson, M., & Checked, F. (2024, May 28). Average cost of college [2024]: Yearly tuition + expenses. Average Cost of College & Tuition. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college

    National Student Clearinghouse. (n.d.). Transfer and progress. National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. https://nscresearchcenter.org/transfer-and-progress/

    Zuckerman, A. L., & Lo, S. M. (2021, August 23). Transfer student experiences and identity navigation in STEM: Overlapping figured worlds of success. Transfer Student Experiences and Identity Navigation in STEM: Overlapping Figured Worlds of Success. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.20-06-0121 

  • Matcha Latte and its Benefits

    Matcha Latte and its Benefits

  • Now You See It! – The Science of Misdirection in Magic

    Now You See It! – The Science of Misdirection in Magic

    Magicians have been performing seemingly impossible feats to awe-struck audiences for millennia. With a simple flick of a hand or snap of a finger, magicians can make objects appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, make someone levitate off the ground, or even saw people in half! To perform these feats, magicians often use their knowledge of how attention works and a bit of misdirection to focus their audience’s attention where they want them to focus (Alexander et al., 2022). How does attention work, and how do magicians use misdirection to pull off these incredible feats?

    What is Attention and How Does it Work?

    Attention is selectively choosing to focus on specific aspects of our environment, while ignoring other stimuli (Kuhn et al., 2022). Attention is like a spotlight – we can only focus on one aspect of our environment at a time, and everything else outside of that spotlight goes unnoticed. There are two main types of attention: goal-directed attention and stimulus-driven attention. Goal-directed attention is when we choose to focus on something to accomplish some motivated goal, while stimulus-driven attention is when a stimulus in our surroundings grabs our attention (Yantis, 2002). Imagine this scenario: we’re watching a show on the TV, when we suddenly hear a loud thump from the other room. Our attention was initially focused on the TV show but instinctively shifts as we focus on the source of the loud thump. The loud thump automatically draws our attention as it may be something we need to protect ourselves from. After determining that the sound was from a family member accidentally dropping a box on the floor, we can return our attention to watching the TV show once more. We are using goal-directed attention when we are focused on watching the TV show. When we hear the unexpected loud thump, we switch to stimulus-driven attention as we try to determine the source of that sound. Magicians often use stimulus-driven attention to direct their audience’s attention to what the magician wants them to see.

    How Do Magicians Use Misdirection?

    Misdirection in magic is when a magician guides our attention towards the magical effects and away from what is really happening. Magicians often use their gaze, multiple hand movements, and other cues to carefully control the audience’s attention to where the magicians want them to focus (Alexander et al., 2022; Icard et al., 2024). For example, a magician could do elaborate movements with their right hand, drawing the audience’s attention to their right hand, while their left hand subtlety goes into their pocket. Multiple, quick hand movements within a short period of time can overwhelm our attentional spotlight, allowing magicians to make coins magically appear and disappear within the blink of an eye without seeming to touch the coins (Icard et al., 2024). Misdirection is a skill that must be practiced well to perform in front of an audience. Famous magicians such as Apollo Robins or Penn and Teller have mastered the technique of misdirection, allowing them to perform complex tricks such as changing tin foil balls into baseballs or taking a watch right off someone’s wrist without them noticing.

    Attention is a powerful tool that can shape our perceptions of the world, so be sure to pay attention!

     

    Citations:

    Alexander, R. G., Macknik, S. L., & Martinez-Conde, S. (2022). What the Neuroscience and Psychology of Magic Reveal about Misinformation. Publications, 10(4), 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10040033

    Icard, B., & Fervari, R. (2024). Beyond the Spell: A Dynamic Logic Analysis of Misdirection. ArXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.14516

    Kuhn, G., Kingori, P., & Peeters Grietens, K. (2022). Misdirection – Magic, Psychology and its Application. Science & Technology Studies, 35(2), 13–29. https://doi.org/10.23987/sts.112182

    Yantis, S. (2002). Stimulus-Driven and Goal-Directed Attentional Control. In: Cantoni, V., Marinaro, M., Petrosino, A. (eds) Visual Attention Mechanisms. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0111-4_12