Why Your Scary Movie Date Night May Send You to an Exorcist

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onvince people that they have either witnessed a possession or have been the victim of possession themselves. During their study, researchers questioned 200 Italian college students about their views on possession. Initially, all of the study participants said they believed demonic possession was highly unlikely to occur.</p><p id="5c82" type="7">“Quite a number of people who watch these exorcism films will be affected and develop symptoms of hysteria.” — Elizabeth Loftus</p><p id="86e5">However, these convictions were tested by the end of the study. Participants were asked to read twelve articles about demonic possession that claimed it was common in Italy and many people had witnessed possessions as children. Subsequently, participants were again questioned about their views on possession and many now claimed that they had witnessed a possession — and some even believed that they had been possessed at some point in their lives.</p><p id="2e3d">“This study can help us understand how you can take normal people and create this kind of effect — make demonic possession seem plausible,” said Loftus. “It normalizes this process and shows it can happen to a lot of people, not only to those who are considered to be ‘kooks.’”</p><p id="4cfe">Although exorcists may enjoy increased business after couples watch horror movies this <a href="http://www.sexwithkiki.com/HornyHolidaysHalloween.html">Halloween</a>, Loftus adds that the suggestibility illustrated in the research has greater implications — and reveals how easy it is to create false memories.</p><p id="0540">“We are <a href="http://www.sexwithkiki.com/Watching.html">looking</a> at the first steps on the path down to creating a false memory. There is controversy about whether you can plant memories about events that are unlikely to happen. As humans, we are capable of developing memories of ideas that other people think occurred,” she said. “Just being exposed to credible information can lead you down this path. This shows why people watching <a href="http://www.oprah.com/index.html"><i>Oprah</i></a> or those in group <a href="https://readmedium.com/depression-and-the-erotica-author-how-to-write-sexy-when-depressed-a9058a9ac982">therapy</a> believe these kinds of things happened to them. People borrow memories from others and adopt them as their own experiences. It is part of the normal process of memory.”</p><p id="ab6f">*This article contains affiliate lin

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ks.</p><p id="3487"><b><i>More from Kiki Wellington:</i></b></p><div id="c62d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/ghost-sex-spectrophilia-cae13c5409f4"> <div> <div> <h2>Spectrophilia: The Haunting Ghost Sex Fetish I Never Knew I Had</h2> <div><h3>What happened when I wondered what sex with a ghost would be like</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*C4tJsa9CrssQ1AcS)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7fc4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-the-exorcist-is-a-commentary-on-divorce-d33d0f35e9e1"> <div> <div> <h2>The Oedipus and ‘The Exorcist’</h2> <div><h3>How the classic horror movie is a commentary on divorce</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*djrzJUVFnEjEDbdeuUyAnA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="3561" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/can-movies-make-you-a-better-kisser-2bb59480c7d8"> <div> <div> <h2>Can Movies Make You a Better Kisser?</h2> <div><h3>According to kissing coach William Cane, they can</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*IqPc72v-Bx-tnEynY9R4pg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="0222"><b>Source:</b></p><p id="45a0">Schwarz, J. (2000, October 17). <i>New wave of exorcisms seen; some people can be convinced they witnessed a demonic possession as a child</i>. University of Washington. <a href="https://www.washington.edu/news/2000/10/17/new-wave-of-exorcisms-seen-some-people-can-be-convinced-they-witnessed-a-demonic-possession-as-a-child/">https://www.washington.edu/news/2000/10/17/new-wave-of-exorcisms-seen-some-people-can-be-convinced-they-witnessed-a-demonic-possession-as-a-child/</a></p></article></body>

The power of a scary movie may compel you to want an exorcism

In a month when we celebrate the things that go bump in the night, it’s not uncommon to choose horror movies for our date nights — and movies that deal with exorcism are among the scariest. Although watching these kinds of films can be a great way to bond with your partner, and even increase your libido, they may also have an unintended side effect: They may make you and your date feel like you need an exorcism of your own.

“Quite a number of people who watch these exorcism films will be affected and develop symptoms of hysteria,” said psychologist and memory expert Elizabeth Loftus. “These films will be a full-employment bill for exorcists.”

Sound ridiculous? Not when you consider that the requests for exorcisms dramatically spiked after the release of The Exorcist* novel in 1971, and again when the film hit theaters in 1973. In order to explore this further, Loftus and her colleagues, Giuliana Mazzoni and Irving Kirsch, researched how easy it is to convince people that they have either witnessed a possession or have been the victim of possession themselves. During their study, researchers questioned 200 Italian college students about their views on possession. Initially, all of the study participants said they believed demonic possession was highly unlikely to occur.

“Quite a number of people who watch these exorcism films will be affected and develop symptoms of hysteria.” — Elizabeth Loftus

However, these convictions were tested by the end of the study. Participants were asked to read twelve articles about demonic possession that claimed it was common in Italy and many people had witnessed possessions as children. Subsequently, participants were again questioned about their views on possession and many now claimed that they had witnessed a possession — and some even believed that they had been possessed at some point in their lives.

“This study can help us understand how you can take normal people and create this kind of effect — make demonic possession seem plausible,” said Loftus. “It normalizes this process and shows it can happen to a lot of people, not only to those who are considered to be ‘kooks.’”

Although exorcists may enjoy increased business after couples watch horror movies this Halloween, Loftus adds that the suggestibility illustrated in the research has greater implications — and reveals how easy it is to create false memories.

“We are looking at the first steps on the path down to creating a false memory. There is controversy about whether you can plant memories about events that are unlikely to happen. As humans, we are capable of developing memories of ideas that other people think occurred,” she said. “Just being exposed to credible information can lead you down this path. This shows why people watching Oprah or those in group therapy believe these kinds of things happened to them. People borrow memories from others and adopt them as their own experiences. It is part of the normal process of memory.”

*This article contains affiliate links.

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