Legends from Home Still Count

Authors

  • Micaiah Bulgrien The Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18113/P8ne6261228

Abstract

There is nothing that disturbs law-abiding adults more than a group of hooligans invading the local cemetery in the middle of the night looking for ghosts and demons. It is often impossible for teenagers to fulfill their horror-driven desires while being so closely watched. However, in the age of the internet, that impossibility becomes relatively easy to overcome. First, it is necessary to understand what drives youngsters to partake in scary activities. Jih-Hsuan et al. suggest that this desire, especially for horror video games, comes from a feeling of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is defined as "an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments" (Carey and Forsyth). Essentially, people enjoy being scared because they enjoy satisfying the belief that they would perform well in the same situation they see in front of them. So many "bad" horror movies are watched over and over because the viewers satisfy their self-efficacy by making fun of the characters' decisions or inserting themselves in the situation and surviving.

Downloads

Published

2019-05-29