Mathias Clasen
Biographic Data
| ID | 1617636 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mathias Clasen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mathias |
| FAMILY NAME | Clasen |
| SIGNATURE | CLASEN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Aarhus University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0830-0078 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Scared together
Humans frequently seek fear-inducing entertainment in social settings, yet the influence of social dynamics on physiological and emotional responses to shared fear remains underexplored. In this field study, we examined physiological synchrony and subjective responses to a high-intensity horror setting at a haunted house attraction. Groups of visitors ( N = 347, aged 18-63 years) wore heart rate (HR) monitors and reported their emotional experien…
Recreational Fear Across Childhood. A Cross-Sectional Study of Scary Activities that Children Enjoy
This study investigated the prevalence of children's engagement in recreational fear activities - i.e., playful engagement with scary stimuli where both fear and enjoyment are experienced. A detailed survey of 1,600 parents/caregivers (67% female) of children aged 1-17 years (50% female) asked about their child's enjoyment of recreational fear activities across 19 activity categories, as well as with whom, where and how often they engage in these…
The Cognitive Foundations of Fictional Stories
Why is there so much diversity in fictional plots? Why are some fictional stories more popular in certain countries or during specific historical periods? In this paper, we propose an evolutionary psychological framework to address these questions. Fictional stories trigger a range of evolved psychological mechanisms—such as finding mates (romance fiction), exploring the world (adventure fiction), or avoiding threats (horror fiction). While these…
Creepiness and the Uncanny
To feel nervously and apprehensively “creeped out” is a familiar emotional state, but its cause—what makes something or someone “creepy”—is poorly understood. A recent evolutionary account of creepiness suggests that the emotion arises from a perceived “ambiguity about the presence of threat” (McAndrew and Koehnke 10). However, not all ambiguous threats are perceived as creepy. This article argues that specifically creepy threats arise from disru…
Excavating Stephen King
Stephen King is one of the most popular novelists of our time, and probably the one with the highest number of fiction-induced nightmares on his conscience. His horror stories resonate with people across the globe, but why? What is it about King’s fiction that has catapulted him to the top of the best-seller charts? What, exactly, makes his particular brand of nightmare fuel so incredibly volatile? James Arthur Anderson, a professor of writing an…
Evil Voices in Popular Fictions
THE EXORCIST (1973), an adolescent girl, Regan MacNeil, is possessed by an evil demon that makes her act in increasingly erratic and immoral ways.She starts to swear and urinates on the floor at a house party.Later, she violates herself with a cross, violently attacks her mother, and goes on to murder two people: a friend of the house and a Catholic priest come to save her soul.But it is not just Regan's behavior that changes.The demon also corru…
Do dark personalities prefer dark characters? A personality psychological approach to positive engagement with fictional villainy
Paradoxically, villainous characters in film, literature, and video games can be very popular. Previous research in the traditions of cognitive media theory and affective disposition theory has assumed that villainous characters can inspire positive engagement only when audiences discount the villains’ immorality by focusing on positive traits or mitigating circumstances. Challenging this assumption, we argue that audiences with a conventionally …
Evolutionary Perspectives on Imaginative Culture
This volume offers an introduction to the relatively new field of evolutionary studies in imaginative culture, analyzing the evolved human imagination. Contributors from psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and the humanities demonstrate that imagination is an essential part of human nature.
Horror Studies between Humanistic Interdisciplinarity and Scientific Consilience
The present thought-provoking conversation engages two accomplished scholars of horror, Darryl Jones and Mathias Clasen, on the multimedia history of horror through their disciplinary viewpoints, respectively, literary studies and the cognitive sciences. Following the publication of their most recent books on the topic (Jones 2018; Clasen 2017), the main theme discussed herein is the possibility of creating an interdisciplinary bridge, and, possi…
Darryl Jones, Sleeping with the Lights On
Darryl Jones, Sleeping with the Lights On: The Unsettling Story of Horror (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), xii + 181 pp. £10.99/$16.95. ISBN 978-0-19882-648-4
Dominic Lennard. Brute Force
Evolutionary Perspectives on Imaginative Culture
Forays into the Dark Field of Evolutionary Horror Film Research
Evolutionary or biocultural theorizing about horror films has been slow to gain traction in film studies, but the field has seen two recent book publications, Mastering Fear by Rikke Schubart and Primal Roots of Horror Cinema by Carrol L. Fry. Unfortunately, neither book is poised to make a substantial impact on evolutionary horror film theory. Mastering Fear ultimately undermines its own engagement with evolutionary social science, and Primal Ro…
Adrenaline junkies and white-knucklers
Fear for Your Life
Why are so many people attracted to horror given its well-documented negative psychological effects, such as increased vigilance and sleep disruptions? In attempting to explain the paradox of horror, this chapter argues that the appetite for horror is an adaptation designed to give us experience with negative emotion at high levels of intensity. Fiction in general provides a framework for emotionally and cognitively engaging simulation at low cos…
Why Horror Seduces
This book explains the appeals and functions of horror entertainment by drawing on cutting-edge findings in the evolutionary social sciences, showing how the horror genre is a product of human nature. It is the first book to integrate the study of horror with the sciences of human nature and to offer a sustained analysis of the ways in which our evolutionary heritage constrains and directs horror in literature, film, and computer games. The centr…
A Cross-Disciplinary Survey of Beliefs about Human Nature, Culture, and Science
How far has the Darwinian revolution come? To what extent have evolutionary ideas penetrated into the social sciences and humanities? Are the “science wars” over? Or do whole blocs of disciplines face off over an unbridgeable epistemic gap? To answer questions like these, contributors to top journals in 22 disciplines were surveyed on their beliefs about human nature, culture, and science. More than 600 respondents completed the survey. Scoring p…
On the Origin of Stories
British Journal of PsychologyVolume 103, Issue 3 p. 430-431 On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction by Brian Boyd MATHIAS CLASEN, MATHIAS CLASEN (Department of Aesthetics and Communication – English, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark)Search for more papers by this author MATHIAS CLASEN, MATHIAS CLASEN (Department of Aesthetics and Communication – English, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark)Search for more papers by this autho…
Vampire Apocalypse
The vampire apocalypse is a fairly unlikely event, but it makes for great storytelling. Richard Matheson's 1954 I Am Legend is a milestone in modern Gothic literature; it tells the bleak story of Robert Neville, sole survivor of a vampire plague. I employ the concepts of evolved human nature, cultural ecology, and authorial identity as my main analytical tools for understanding the appeal, the power, and the significance of Matheson's classic nov…
Vampire Apocalypse
The vampire apocalypse is a fairly unlikely event, but it makes for great storytelling. Richard Matheson's 1954 I Am Legend is a milestone in modern Gothic literature; it tells the bleak story of Robert Neville, sole survivor of a vampire plague. I employ the concepts of evolved human nature, cultural ecology, and authorial identity as my main analytical tools for understanding the appeal, the power, and the significance of Matheson's classic nov…
Do dark personalities prefer dark characters? A personality psychological approach to positive engagement with fictional villainy
Paradoxically, villainous characters in film, literature, and video games can be very popular. Previous research in the traditions of cognitive media theory and affective disposition theory has assumed that villainous characters can inspire positive engagement only when audiences discount the villains’ immorality by focusing on positive traits or mitigating circumstances. Challenging this assumption, we argue that audiences with a conventionally …
Evil Voices in Popular Fictions
THE EXORCIST (1973), an adolescent girl, Regan MacNeil, is possessed by an evil demon that makes her act in increasingly erratic and immoral ways.She starts to swear and urinates on the floor at a house party.Later, she violates herself with a cross, violently attacks her mother, and goes on to murder two people: a friend of the house and a Catholic priest come to save her soul.But it is not just Regan's behavior that changes.The demon also corru…
Adrenaline junkies and white-knucklers
Vampire Apocalypse
The vampire apocalypse is a fairly unlikely event, but it makes for great storytelling. Richard Matheson's 1954 I Am Legend is a milestone in modern Gothic literature; it tells the bleak story of Robert Neville, sole survivor of a vampire plague. I employ the concepts of evolved human nature, cultural ecology, and authorial identity as my main analytical tools for understanding the appeal, the power, and the significance of Matheson's classic nov…
On the Origin of Stories
British Journal of PsychologyVolume 103, Issue 3 p. 430-431 On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction by Brian Boyd MATHIAS CLASEN, MATHIAS CLASEN (Department of Aesthetics and Communication – English, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark)Search for more papers by this author MATHIAS CLASEN, MATHIAS CLASEN (Department of Aesthetics and Communication – English, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark)Search for more papers by this autho…
Fear for Your Life
Why are so many people attracted to horror given its well-documented negative psychological effects, such as increased vigilance and sleep disruptions? In attempting to explain the paradox of horror, this chapter argues that the appetite for horror is an adaptation designed to give us experience with negative emotion at high levels of intensity. Fiction in general provides a framework for emotionally and cognitively engaging simulation at low cos…
Why Horror Seduces
This book explains the appeals and functions of horror entertainment by drawing on cutting-edge findings in the evolutionary social sciences, showing how the horror genre is a product of human nature. It is the first book to integrate the study of horror with the sciences of human nature and to offer a sustained analysis of the ways in which our evolutionary heritage constrains and directs horror in literature, film, and computer games. The centr…
A Cross-Disciplinary Survey of Beliefs about Human Nature, Culture, and Science
How far has the Darwinian revolution come? To what extent have evolutionary ideas penetrated into the social sciences and humanities? Are the “science wars” over? Or do whole blocs of disciplines face off over an unbridgeable epistemic gap? To answer questions like these, contributors to top journals in 22 disciplines were surveyed on their beliefs about human nature, culture, and science. More than 600 respondents completed the survey. Scoring p…
Forays into the Dark Field of Evolutionary Horror Film Research
Evolutionary or biocultural theorizing about horror films has been slow to gain traction in film studies, but the field has seen two recent book publications, Mastering Fear by Rikke Schubart and Primal Roots of Horror Cinema by Carrol L. Fry. Unfortunately, neither book is poised to make a substantial impact on evolutionary horror film theory. Mastering Fear ultimately undermines its own engagement with evolutionary social science, and Primal Ro…
Adrenaline junkies and white-knucklers
Evolutionary Perspectives on Imaginative Culture
This volume offers an introduction to the relatively new field of evolutionary studies in imaginative culture, analyzing the evolved human imagination. Contributors from psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and the humanities demonstrate that imagination is an essential part of human nature.
Horror Studies between Humanistic Interdisciplinarity and Scientific Consilience
The present thought-provoking conversation engages two accomplished scholars of horror, Darryl Jones and Mathias Clasen, on the multimedia history of horror through their disciplinary viewpoints, respectively, literary studies and the cognitive sciences. Following the publication of their most recent books on the topic (Jones 2018; Clasen 2017), the main theme discussed herein is the possibility of creating an interdisciplinary bridge, and, possi…
Darryl Jones, Sleeping with the Lights On
Darryl Jones, Sleeping with the Lights On: The Unsettling Story of Horror (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), xii + 181 pp. £10.99/$16.95. ISBN 978-0-19882-648-4
Dominic Lennard. Brute Force
Evolutionary Perspectives on Imaginative Culture
Do dark personalities prefer dark characters? A personality psychological approach to positive engagement with fictional villainy
Paradoxically, villainous characters in film, literature, and video games can be very popular. Previous research in the traditions of cognitive media theory and affective disposition theory has assumed that villainous characters can inspire positive engagement only when audiences discount the villains’ immorality by focusing on positive traits or mitigating circumstances. Challenging this assumption, we argue that audiences with a conventionally …
Creepiness and the Uncanny
To feel nervously and apprehensively “creeped out” is a familiar emotional state, but its cause—what makes something or someone “creepy”—is poorly understood. A recent evolutionary account of creepiness suggests that the emotion arises from a perceived “ambiguity about the presence of threat” (McAndrew and Koehnke 10). However, not all ambiguous threats are perceived as creepy. This article argues that specifically creepy threats arise from disru…
Excavating Stephen King
Stephen King is one of the most popular novelists of our time, and probably the one with the highest number of fiction-induced nightmares on his conscience. His horror stories resonate with people across the globe, but why? What is it about King’s fiction that has catapulted him to the top of the best-seller charts? What, exactly, makes his particular brand of nightmare fuel so incredibly volatile? James Arthur Anderson, a professor of writing an…
Evil Voices in Popular Fictions
THE EXORCIST (1973), an adolescent girl, Regan MacNeil, is possessed by an evil demon that makes her act in increasingly erratic and immoral ways.She starts to swear and urinates on the floor at a house party.Later, she violates herself with a cross, violently attacks her mother, and goes on to murder two people: a friend of the house and a Catholic priest come to save her soul.But it is not just Regan's behavior that changes.The demon also corru…
The Cognitive Foundations of Fictional Stories
Why is there so much diversity in fictional plots? Why are some fictional stories more popular in certain countries or during specific historical periods? In this paper, we propose an evolutionary psychological framework to address these questions. Fictional stories trigger a range of evolved psychological mechanisms—such as finding mates (romance fiction), exploring the world (adventure fiction), or avoiding threats (horror fiction). While these…
Scared together
Humans frequently seek fear-inducing entertainment in social settings, yet the influence of social dynamics on physiological and emotional responses to shared fear remains underexplored. In this field study, we examined physiological synchrony and subjective responses to a high-intensity horror setting at a haunted house attraction. Groups of visitors ( N = 347, aged 18-63 years) wore heart rate (HR) monitors and reported their emotional experien…
Recreational Fear Across Childhood. A Cross-Sectional Study of Scary Activities that Children Enjoy
This study investigated the prevalence of children's engagement in recreational fear activities - i.e., playful engagement with scary stimuli where both fear and enjoyment are experienced. A detailed survey of 1,600 parents/caregivers (67% female) of children aged 1-17 years (50% female) asked about their child's enjoyment of recreational fear activities across 19 activity categories, as well as with whom, where and how often they engage in these…
Psychology (11 works) · Art (7 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis (6 works) · Media Influence and Health (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Cognitive psychology (4 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (4 works)