Mathias Clasen

Mathias Clasen

Mathias Clasen is a researcher and first author of the 2019 paper on fear management in haunted house visitors, and a co-author of the 2020 field study.

Who they are

Clasen led the 2019 study, written with Marc Malmdorf Andersen and Uffe Schjoedt. Visitors to a haunted house were asked to maximise or minimise their fear, and interviews and questionnaires followed. Both groups used strategies applied before and in response to a scare, including thinking differently, changing behaviour and looking to others. Thrill-seekers also used some strategies that heightened fear and reported stronger fear, and enjoyment was similar across groups.

He is also a co-author of the 2020 field study that found an inverted U between fear and enjoyment.

Key papers

Clasen, M., Andersen, M. M. and Schjoedt, U. (2019), Poetics 73, 61-71.

Andersen, M. M., Schjoedt, U., Price, H. C. W., Rosas, F. E., Scrivner, C. and Clasen, M. (2020), Psychological Science 31(12), 1497-1510.

Key ideas

People manage their own dose of fear.

Enjoyment can be similar for people who seek fear and people who limit it.

Sources

  1. Clasen, M., Andersen, M. M. and Schjoedt, U. (2019), Poetics 73, 61-71.
  2. Andersen, M. M., Schjoedt, U., Price, H. C. W., Rosas, F. E., Scrivner, C. and Clasen, M. (2020), Psychological Science 31(12), 1497-1510.