The Effect of Media Exposure on Coulrophobia Symptoms

Abstract

Abstract Fear is a fundamental emotion developed by humans for evolutionary purposes. This is transmitted in human DNA through the generations to help our survival. However, people may argue that the irrational fear of clowns is standing on the opposite side of survival purposes since clowns have no hazard. Coulrophobia is relatively new as a subtype of anxiety disorder, and so less research investigates the specific reason that triggered the phobia. This study utilised the Fear of Clown Questionnaire (FCQ) to assess symptoms of coulrophobia and employed correlation analysis, independent samples t-tests, ANOVA, and regression coefficients to identify potential predictors of these symptoms. The analysis results indicated that individuals with media exposure exhibited higher scores on total items in the FCQ, indicating that their symptoms of coulrophobia differ from those of the control group. In addition, the findings revealed a significant negative correlation between exposure to the non-exposure group and coulrophobia symptoms (r=-.739, p<.001), indicating that media exposure is associated with higher symptom severity, further supporting the impact of exposure on coulrophobia symptoms.