Cracks in Everyday Life. The Reception of Film Imagery with Occult Contents
This project dealt with individual factors at play in the reception of occult or non-rational contents in films by young persons. Furthermore it investigated whether there are differences in various dimensions of personality between horror fans and other young persons.
A part of a horror film was shown to 50 adolescent subjects in single sessions. The film was stopped at several points, and then the subjects were asked questions about what they had just seen in a guided interview. This method made it possible to work immediately and very close with the impressions and cognitions induced by the film. More data were collected in interviews after the film had been played and by giving a questionnaire on sociodemographic items, dimensions of personality, experiences with occult themes, occult belief systems and on their actual life situation.
It was found that an orientation to non-rational contents in films seems to be a relatively constant character trait that is not dependent on development of ego identity. It correlates with emotionality, a pessimistic attitude and also with the development of occult belief systems. However there seemed to be a relationship to the development of ego identity in the case of those liking the horror genre. These people had dealt thoroughly with their political beliefs and sexuality. Contrary to our expectations horror fans do not have a specificly strong orientation to non-rational contents in films. Also there was no significant correlation with the development of occult belief systems. Other topics such as aggressivity and sexuality were more important, and the films' close relationship to social taboos seemed to be the deciding factor that makes horror movies a prefered film genre for some young persons at a certain period of development.
In addition to the quantitative evaluation of the data seven case studies were analyzed in order to get a close picture of individual differences in the reception of such films.
Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Johannes Mischo
Staff Member: Dr. Gerhard Mayer
Publications:
Mayer, Gerhard (2006). Das Unheimliche in Horrorfilmen. Rezeptionsstrategien bei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen. Der Deutschunterricht, 58(3), 68-73. [The uncanny in horror films. Strategies of reception among juveniles and young adults]
Mayer, Gerhard (2000): Risse im Alltäglichen. Die Rezeption okkulter Darstellungen in Filmen. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. [Cracks in everyday life. The reception of "occult" films from the viewpoint of adolescents]
Mayer, Gerhard (2000): Nightmare on Elmstreet. Okkulte Filminhalte: Rezeptionsstrategien bei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen. In: Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie und Grenzgebiete der Psychologie, 42/43, S. 109-130. [Nightmare on Elmstreet – Occult contents in films: Reception strategies of juveniles and young adults]
Mayer, Gerhard (1999). Die Rezeption von filmischen Darstellungen mit okkulten Inhalten. In G. Krampen, H. Zayer, W. Schönpflug, & G. Richardt Eds.), Beiträge zur Angewandten Psychologie (412-413). Bonn: Deutscher Psychologen Verlag. [The reception of "occult" films from the viewpoint of adolescents]
