reverence andphobiascan seemingly be hardwired into us as a protective mechanism , from flinching at fire to back away from asnake . Butcoulrophobia , or afear of clowns , is different . Why be fearful of a graphic symbol design to spread joyousness and mirth ? Why does the antagonist ofIt , Stephen King’slandmark novel , take the variety of a goof to terrify the children of Derry , Maine ?
A studypublishedinFrontiers in Psychologymay avail explain it . Researchers at the University of South Wales pollard 528 people who expressed a fright of clowns or clowning in an attempt to drill down into the source of their apprehension .
After sum up the issue , the squad was able to describe some pervasive logical thinking behind the phobia . One fundamental factor is the lack of info a clown can transmit about their thought mental process . Their make - up , while expressive , is like a mask and can obfuscate their intention .
“ There ’s something about not being able to read facial expressions , ” chair writer and psychology professor Philip John TysontoldThe Washington Post . “ And the fact that there might be something conceal and dangerous , there might be harmful design behind the makeup . ”
That makeup , which often consists of white paint and a red-faced mouth , can also infer pallor and disease , as though the merry andrew might be carrying a transmissible illness .
Another upsetting factor is a clown ’s unpredictability : Clowns will do anything for a gag , and that inscrutability can be unsettle for citizenry .
Respondents also cite the not - quite - human face of a merry andrew as well as their depictions in democratic culture , though the latter seems to be more a reflection of coulrophobia than a cause . And only seldom did hoi polloi mention a first - paw negative experience with a clown as the reference of the problem .
Ultimately , multitude appear to glower at clowns because their cheerful disposition can mask something baleful . Of course , the same is reliable for just about any human . merry andrew , however , seem to have get the hang the nontextual matter of bring that fear to the open .
