Answer:
The author states that doing fun-scary activities -where they are not exposed to real danger- makes people feel less anxious, boosts their self-esteem and creates stronger bonds between them. This proved to be very helpful and to give them a different perspective over certain things that may not be so scary as they thought it was.
Explanation:
Margee Kerr studied for over ten years the reason why people would want to intentionally scare themselves. What is it that brings so many people to scary-fun places like haunted houses?
The research shows some interesting data. For the study, they recruited 262 guests who had already purchased tickets and before they entered the attraction and answered some questions about their expectations and how they were feeling.
Guests reported feeling more relaxed and happy, directly after their trip through the haunted attraction. This is because when engaged in this type of highly intense and scary activities the brain may shut down its rational part and just focuses on what is necessary to survive, but since there's no real danger, the body can just enjoy the rush of adrenaline and strong emotions.
Also, after the ride, the guests said that they felt more powerful and better about themselves, which shows that this may serve as a way to practice -through being scared-, building greater self-knowledge and resilience. Therefore, some challenges of the real world may not look like a big deal after facing so many scary things and winding up victorious.
Finally, the author points out how doing intense, exciting and thrilling things with friends can make the experience funnier and help create stronger social bonds which could be very helpful when it comes to facing challenges in any kind of relationship.
