New research says horror films are less stressful when watching with a partner

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Scary films are less stressful if you watch them with your partner, according to new research.

The violent and tense movies can be bad for health - causing viewers to reach for comfort foods.

Settling down in front of the screen with a lover douses nerves, say scientists.

The finding was based on 83 couples in the US who either held hands or sat individually as they were shown video clips.

Stress levels were measured by blood pressure readings and eye trackers that measured pupil dilation.

The films were "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Alaska’s Wild Denali".

The first two were selected to elicit fear and the third a neutral response.

"The horror video clips elicited a stress response," said lead author Dr. Tyler Graff, a psychologist at Brigham Young University in Utah. "There were significant differences between the support and non-support conditions - as well as marital relationship quality conditions."

Participants who held hands - and were in a strong relationship - felt much less stressed.

The study in PLOS ONE adds to evidence marriage is good for your health.

"Being satisfied in marriage provides protective stress-buffering benefits to various health complications," said Graff.

It also fully captures the benefits for the first time - shedding light on the causal mechanisms and speed at which it works.

"Epidemiological research has overwhelmingly demonstrated supportive social relationships can protect individuals from various causes of morbidity and mortality," said Graff.

Humans have the unique ability to activate the stress or fear response to threats that are sometimes not even real at all.

Horror films exploit this to stimulate very real fear and stress responses in movie-goers even when no threat is present.

The elicit physiological reactions just as robust as if the movie-goers were really threatened by whatever is on the screen.

"Importantly, receiving emotional support can moderate the effects via stress buffering," Graff said.

When individuals become stressed their pupils dilate - fluctuations controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

This includes reacting to stressors and enhancing the fight-or-flight response by the sympathetic nervous system.

Emotional support in the form of holding a spouse's hand affected the acute stress response - especially in high-quality relationships.

"When exposed to the horror video clips, participants demonstrated increased pupil dilation," Graff said. "Individuals who received emotional support, in the form of handholding, showed a weaker pupillary stress response. Those in supportive marital relationships will benefit more from spousal emotional support than those in ambivalent ones."

The clips ranged from 31 seconds to 78 seconds. Horror film scenes had at least one "frightening jump scare" to make the participant react.

Volunteers were asked how often they watched horror films and "did you find your spouse's handholding supportive?"

The results back earlier research by the same team that spousal emotional support dampens the ANS's acute stress response.

"They are directly applicable to married couples," explained Graff. "This effect was observed from a generalizable, real-life stressor - horror movies. If you wants to experience less stress reactivity while watching a horror movie, watch it while holding your spouse’s hand. In addition, you should take a moment before the movie begins to ensure you have a supportive marital relationship."

Two years ago a study found horror film fans eat fattier foods to relieve stress - increasing the risk of obesity.