Did Watching All Those Zombie Movies Prepare You For The Pandemic? Research Says Yes! – Forbes

Zombie and other horror science fiction movies and TV show may have prepared viewers for the current ... [+] pandemic.

Turns out all those hours of watching post-apocalyptic movies and TV shows werent wasted and everyone who started watching movies like Contagion at the beginning of the pandemic had the right idea.

A new study found that people who watched those types of horror films were actually better prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic than people who didn't binge seasons of The Walking Dead.

After factoring out personality influences, which were actually quite strong, we found that the more movies about zombies, alien invasions and apocalyptic pandemics people had seen prior to Covid-19, the better they dealt with the actual, current pandemic. These kinds of movies apparently serve as mental rehearsal for actual events, explained on of the study authors John Johnson, a professor emeritus of psychology at Penn State.

The study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences last week, surveyed more than 300 people looking at things like personality, preparedness and resilience. It also obviously asked about what kind of movie and television genres they were fans of, such as horror, psychological thriller, crime, comedy, or romance.

Additionally, participants were asked about the past and present experience with and interest in films that were explicitly about pandemics as well as other questions as controls.

"My colleagues wanted to identify factors beyond personality that contributed to people's psychological preparedness and resilience in the face of the pandemic," said Johnson.

"What we found was that people who watched certain kinds of movies before the pandemic seemed to be helped by them during the pandemic.

The studys authors found that those who indicated they were fans of horror and engaged more frequently with frightening fictional phenomena reported lower levels of distress during the pandemic.

Coltan Scrivner, the studys lead author and a PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago, explained in an interview with CTV News that the results might be in part due to the fact that people who watch a lot of horror films are frequently exposed to being afraid in a safe setting.

The idea is that they can sort of practise feeling anxious or practise feeling afraid or overcoming that or being OK with that so when something happens in their life that makes them afraid, or makes them anxious, theyre better able to deal with it or have more sort of tools that they're equipped with dealing with it, he explained.

Horror fiction allows its audience to practise emotion regulation skills and hone strategies for dealing with fear, the researchers wrote in the study.

But the study results might also give everyone a valid excuse to continue binge watching everything on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.

To me, this implicates an even more important message about stories in general whether in books, movies or plays. Stories are not just entertainment, but preparation for life," added Johnson.

But as for helping with the current pandemic situation Johnson doesnt think catching up on horror flicks will help much.

"I'm not sure that watching such movies now would be helpful for our current situation," he said.

Although theres always the next one...

"My understanding of pandemics and other life-challenging events is that similar future challenges are absolutely inevitable. The past is often forgotten too easily. Who remembered the Spanish flu epidemic until scientists brought up that piece of history during Covid-19? This reinforces my belief that consuming stories from books, films and maybe even video games is not just an idle pastime, but a way for us to imagine simulated realities that help prepare us for future challenges," said Johnson.

Although, Scrivner added that this preparation method might not be for everyone.

People kind of know if horror films make them really anxious, it's probably a bad idea to start watching them now to try to reduce your anxiety, he said.

But if you are into scary movies Scrivner thinks it might just be the best way to cope with a pandemic.

If you don't absolutely hate horror films, maybe watching stuff that scares you a bit now and then is sort of like a psychological vaccine of sorts, but thats speculation.

Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus

Excerpt from:
Did Watching All Those Zombie Movies Prepare You For The Pandemic? Research Says Yes! - Forbes