A new study published in the journal Emotion provides evidence that voluntarily participating in frightening activities with others, such as visiting a haunted house, tends to make people feel more connected to one another. The findings suggest that experiencing fear in a safe setting fosters a subjective sense of bonding, though the true strengthening of relationships may depend heavily on talking about the experience afterward.
Humans are highly social creatures, and forming bonds with others is strongly linked to overall health and psychological well-being. While substantial evidence shows that sharing positive emotions amplifies interpersonal closeness, a separate line of research suggests that negative emotions — specifically fear — also push people to seek out company. When facing a common threat, people often prefer to face it together rather than alone.
Beyond simply seeking company, shared emotional arousal can create a sense of unity. Previous studies indicate that fear can spread from person to person, synchronizing heart rates and reinforcing group cohesion. Most previous experiments relied on artificial laboratory settings or genuine threats. Researchers wanted to investigate how fear affects relationships in a recreational context, where the threat is entirely simulated.
Jane Wiley conducted this research as an undergraduate student at the University of Florida, inspired by personal experiences. Both she and her advisor, Dr. Ken Swan, are huge horror fans. Wiley noted that Swan's first date at a Halloween event led to a happy marriage, while she grew incredibly close to a best friend after navigating a haunted house together. Millions seek out recreational fear every year through roller coasters, horror movies, or haunted attractions. The scientists designed this project to test whether the fear experienced in these playful, safe environments translates into stronger social ties.
To explore these ideas, the researchers conducted a series of five studies over three Halloween seasons at a commercial haunted attraction in Florida.
In the first study, the team surveyed 986 attraction attendees immediately after they finished a sensory deprivation haunted house. The participants answered questions regarding how much fear they felt, how much they enjoyed the attraction, and whether the experience brought them closer to the person in their group they already felt closest to. The scientists found that higher levels of reported fear strongly predicted a stronger feeling of having bonded. Engaging in physical contact, such as holding hands, and communicating during the event also predicted higher ratings of perceived closeness.
To verify these findings and look for measurable changes, the researchers conducted a second study with 500 participants during the next Halloween season. This time, guests completed surveys both immediately before and right after navigating the attraction, allowing scientists to measure precise shifts in interpersonal closeness. Once again, the amount of fear a person felt predicted how much they believed the experience brought them closer to their companion. Yet, when looking at the direct difference between the before and after closeness ratings, they found no measurable change. The researchers suspected a "ceiling effect" — because these participants already rated their relationship so highly before entering, there was very little mathematical room for their closeness score to increase.
For the third study, the researchers adjusted their focus to see if the bonding effect applied to less intimate relationships. They surveyed 554 participants, asking them to focus on the group member they felt the least close to. The scientists found that fear and physical contact remained strong predictors of feeling brought together. Approximately 45 percent of participants agreed that the experience made them feel closer to their least close group member, and 64 percent felt the experience brought their entire group closer. This suggested that the bonding effect of recreational fear generalizes across different relationship types.
In the fourth study, the researchers again attempted to capture a measurable shift in closeness from before to after the haunted house, maintaining their focus on least close companions to avoid the ceiling effect. They collected complete survey data from 263 attendees. The predictive model held up for a fourth time, and the researchers finally detected a statistically significant increase in closeness ratings from before the experience to afterward. However, the actual shift was very small, rising by an average of just 0.21 points on a 7-point scale. This modest change raised questions about why people overwhelmingly reported feeling closer, even though their numerical ratings barely moved.
To understand this paradox, the researchers conducted a fifth and final study consisting of face-to-face qualitative interviews with 20 guests right after they completed the quantitative survey. During the interviews, attendees emphasized that the bonding effect of shared fear is not always immediate. Instead, participants explained that the true connection happens during post-experience processing, which involves talking, laughing, and swapping stories about the scares on the car ride home. Sharing a novel, physically intense experience created a space for vulnerability. However, immediate surveys often fail to capture relational shifts because participants have not yet had the time to mentally unpack the event and reflect on their shared survival.
"The haunted house on its own may not do much to strengthen the relationship," Wiley noted. "But if you talk, reminisce, and laugh about the experience afterwards, you'll probably feel more bonded with that person."
The researchers acknowledged a few limitations. They used convenience samples of people who were already at the haunted house, meaning the results primarily generalize to people who already enjoy such attractions. Furthermore, environmental factors during the surveys — such as loud music and a chaotic bar atmosphere — might have influenced the responses.
Finally, the researchers warned against misinterpreting the findings as a quick fix for broken relationships. A minority of participants did not feel closer, suggesting that fear could strain a relationship if a person feels unsupported or mocked during a moment of vulnerability. Instead, recreational fear acts as an interpersonal stress test. Reacting to a scared partner with physical comfort and humor strengthens bonds, while reacting poorly might diminish them.