More than half of the respondents (53.5%) said they were somewhat afraid of clowns, while 5% reported an extreme fear of them. Interestingly, the percentage of severe fear of clowns is higher than other phobias such as animal phobia (3.8%), wound, injection or blood phobia (3%), height phobia (2.8%), fear of weather events and hydrophobia (2). .3%), fear of closed spaces (2.2%) and fear of flying (1.3%) are more.
Also, according to statistics, women suffer from clown phobia more than men. The reason for this difference is not clear, but it reflects research findings related to other phobias such as fear of snakes and spiders. Also, according to the findings, chlorophobia decreases with increasing age. This finding is consistent with the findings of other fears.
The origin of clownphobia
The next step of the researchers was to investigate the origin of clown phobia. A follow-up questionnaire was given to 53.5% of people who said they were somewhat afraid of clowns. This new set of questions pointed to eight possible explanations for the origin of this fear, which are:
- The eerie and unsettling feeling due to the makeup of the clowns, which makes them look like non-human beings. A similar reaction can be seen in dolls or mannequins.
- Exaggerated facial features in clowns convey a direct sense of menace.
- Clown makeup hides emotional signals and creates a sense of ambiguity.
- The color of clown makeup is reminiscent of death, disease or blood and creates a sense of disgust and distance.
- The unpredictable behavior of clowns makes people uncomfortable.
- Fear of clowns is learned from family members.
- Negative portrayal of clowns in popular culture.
- The scary experience of facing a clown.
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