Open Access
Academic Studies Press
An Infectious Curiosity: Morbid Curiosity and ...

In this study conducted during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, I explored how trait morbid curiosity was related to interest in 1) factual information about Coronavirus that was specifically morbid, 2) general factual information about Coronavirus, 3) pandemic and virus genres of films and TV shows, and 4) genres of film and TV shows that center around threat more broadly. Participants (n = 125) who scored high in morbid curiosity reported increased interest, compared to usual, in pandemic/virus genres as well as horror and thriller genres. Morbidly curious participants were also more interested specifically in morbid information about Coronavirus. Furthermore, disgust sensitivity was unrelated to these preferences. These results provide initial evidence that trait morbid curiosity can predict particular media preferences in the face of a real threat, and that morbid curiosity may reflect an adaptive predisposition in some individuals toward learning about the dangerous and disgusting aspects of a threat. 

An Infectious Curiosity: Morbid Curiosity and Media Preferences During a Pandemic
Academic Studies Press
ESIC to be indexed by SCOPUS

ESIC is pleased to announce that it will soon be indexed by SCOPUS. The Content Selection & Advisory Board notes that ESIC is a strong and well organised peer reviewed journal which consistently includes articles that are scientifically sound and relevant to an international academic or professional audience in this field, fully meriting inclusion in SCOPUS. More details to follow in the coming months.

ESIC to be indexed by SCOPUS

imagination

“I’m Totally Tripping Balls”: The Value of Psychedelic and other Mythopoetic States

“I’m Totally Tripping Balls”: The Value of Psychedelic and other Mythopoetic States

In what ways can the psychedelic imagination be “transformative”? The science of psychedelics is having a renaissance currently and the research is helping us understand the mind better and provide us with fresh therapeutic options. Psychotropic substances engender psychological and philosophical states that reveal important features of the self and consciousness. They can reduce the vigilant executive functions in the frontal areas of the brain and release the mind into the involuntary sphere of free-association and mind-wandering (what neuroscientists call the Default Mode Network, DMN). These altered states loosen the tyranny of task-based consciousness, and they also suspend the ego’s usual dominance –letting us feel connected to everything (possibly activating improved empathy).