What are the reasons why the fear of clowns, also called coulrophobia, is so widespread? A team of researchers in psychology answers us.
- 53.5% of respondents said they were afraid of clowns, with 5% saying they were “extremely afraid”.
- The most important factor causing the fear of clowns is the fact that their makeup hides their facial expressions and therefore their emotional intentions.
- Not being able to get clues about the clown’s thoughts and intentions makes some of us nervous.
Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, is a widely recognized phenomenon. Different studies indicate that this fear is present in adults and children in many different cultures. Yet it is still not well understood due to a lack of targeted research. Indeed, while many possible explanations for the phobia had been advanced in the academic literature, no study had specifically investigated its origins.
Psychology researchers from the University of South Wales (Wales) Philip Tyson, Sophie Scorey, James Greville and Shakiela Davies, therefore wanted to study the reasons for this fear, as well as its incidence in the population. They look back on their work, published in February 2023 in the journal Frontiers in Psychologyin an article for The Conversation.
Women are more afraid of clowns than men
The researchers first developed a psychometric questionnaire to assess the prevalence and severity of coulrophobia. The Fear of Clowns Questionnaire was completed by an international sample of 987 people aged 18-77. More than half of respondents (53.5%) said they were at least somewhat afraid of clowns, with 5% saying they were “extremely afraid”. Interestingly, this percentage reporting an extreme fear of clowns is slightly higher than those reported for many other phobias, such as animals (3.8%), blood/injury (3.0%), emptiness ( 2.8%), hydrophobia (fear of water) or phobia of weather events (2.3%), claustrophobia, irrational fear of confined spaces (2.2%) and aviophobia, airplane phobia (1.3%).
The researchers also found that women are more afraid of clowns than men. The reason for this difference is unclear, but it echoes research findings on other phobias such as fear of snakes and spiders. Moreover, according to the researchers, coulrophobia decreases with age, like, again, other phobias.
What is the origin of clown phobia?
Next, the researchers explored the origins of the fear of clowns. A follow-up questionnaire was given to the 53.5% who reported at least some degree of clown fear. This new set of questions focused on eight plausible explanations for the origins of this fear:
- A strange or disturbing feeling due to the makeup of the clowns which makes them look not quite human.
- The exaggerated facial features of clowns convey a direct sense of threat.
- Clown makeup masks emotional signals and creates uncertainty.
- The color of clown makeup reminds us of death, wounds, and blood and drives us to disgust or avoidance.
- The unpredictable behavior of the clowns makes us uncomfortable.
- The fear of clowns was learned from family members.
- Negative representations of clowns in popular culture.
- A chilling personal experience with a clown.
“Surprisingly, we found the explanation of having had a frightening personal experience with a clown to have the lowest level of agreement. This indicates that life experience alone is not a sufficient explanation for why people are afraid of them”write the researchers.
In contrast, negative portrayals of clowns in popular culture were a much larger contributing factor to coulrophobia. “It’s understandable since some of the most prominent clowns in books and movies are designed to be scary, like Pennywise, the creepy clown in the novel. That by Stephen King in 1986”specify the researchers, while the novel was recently re-adapted to the cinema in 2017 and 2019.
Makeup hides the emotions of clowns, which scares us
However, some people are afraid of clowns who seem more innocuous, like Ronald McDonald, the mascot of the American fast-food chain, which is however not made to scare. “It suggests there might be something more fundamental about the appearance of clowns that is disturbing”explain the researchers.
The most important factor they identified is actually hidden emotional cues, suggesting that for many people, the fear of clowns stems from the fact that they cannot see their facial expressions due to their makeup. “We cannot see their true faces and therefore cannot understand their emotional intent. So, for example, we don’t know if they have a frown or a furrowed forehead, which would indicate anger. Not being able to sense what a clown is thinking or what they might be doing makes some of us nervous around them”say the researchers.