Fascination with Death as a Function of Need for Novel Stimulation

Abstract

Optimal stimulation theory suggests that when an organism's level of stimulus input falls below its optimal range, the organism is then motivated to return its neurological excitation to its optimal range. If contemporary American society produces individuals who maintain a sense of boredom, powerlessness, and alienation, then they may possibly derive stimulation and consequently importance from highly arousing novel experiences such as violence and death. To test this hypothesis, boredom, alienation and stimulus-seeking were assumed to be indicative of decreased response to principle stimulation sources. Students were grouped into high/low variable groups. An author developed scale measured fascination with death. An analysis of variance revealed that persons both highly bored and highly alienated were indeed more interested in death-related events.