Monsters of the Mind👻
This “split” personality disorder is often mistaken for having multiple identities, but it actually refers to mood instability and fear of abandonment.
What is borderline personality disorder?
This chemical floods your body when you watch horror movies, giving you that thrilling rush.
What is adrenaline?
When you see a ghost in the dark that isn’t really there, you’re experiencing this psychological event.
What is hallucination?
This psychological principle explains why people comply when a powerful figure gives orders, even if it feels wrong.
What is obedience or obedience to authority?
This psychologist’s obedience experiment had participants “shock” others — even when they screamed.
Who is Stanley Milgram?
Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, people with this condition might feel like two different selves — but it’s a real mental disorder.
What is dissociative identity disorder?
The brain structure most responsible for processing fear is named after an almond — what is it?
What is the amygdala?
The “Haunting of Hill House” might trigger this bias, where we focus on evidence that supports our beliefs in the supernatural.
What is confirmation bias?
“Drink the Kool-Aid” refers to this tragic real-world cult event.
What is the Jonestown Massacre?
In 1971, volunteers became abusive “guards” in a fake prison in this study.
This term describes when individuals lose their sense of identity in a crowd, often leading to aggression.
What is deindividuation?
People who enjoy haunted houses often score higher on this “thrill-seeking” personality trait.
What is sensation seeking?
People who believe they’re cursed might create their own bad luck through this psychological effect.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
When cult members experience psychological discomfort from conflicting beliefs, they may rationalize the leader’s lies through this process.
What is cognitive dissonance?
In this classic conditioning experiment, a baby learned to fear a white rat.
Who is Little Albert? (John B Watson's experiment)
This masked slasher from horror movies might score high on the “Dark Triad” of personality — name all three traits.
What are narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy?
This exposure-based therapy technique helps people face their fears gradually, just like surviving a haunted maze.
What is systematic desensitization?
This term describes seeing faces in random objects, like a jack-o’-lantern in the shadows.
What is pareidolia?
Cult leaders use this technique to overwhelm new recruits with attention, activity, and ideology before they can think critically.
What is information overload or love bombing?
This psychologist studied conformity with lines — proving people will go along with a group even when it’s wrong.
Who is Solomon Asch
A zombie mindlessly follows others without thinking — a real-life psychological phenomenon called this.
What is group think or herd mentality?
Some psychologists say watching horror helps us safely explore danger — a theory known as this.
What is benign masochism?
After watching too many horror movies, you start hearing footsteps in the dark — your brain is over-activating this survival system.
What is the fight-or-flight response?
Created by Steven Hassan, the “BITE” model of cult control stands for controlling Behavior, Information, Thought, and this last element.
What is emotion?
“Learned helplessness,” discovered by shocking dogs, later helped explain this human condition.
What is depression?