Poll of the Day > Do people have a predisposition towards certain art/entertainment?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like for example, are horror movie fans naturally horror movie fans that would always become horror fans because it's part of them or was it because of circumstance or how they were raised?

Psychologists have been asking this about tons of things and I'm pretty sure the answer in most cases is "we have no way of really knowing"

In most cases (especially such a broad one as this), the answer to "is it nature or nurture?" is "yes." Each person likely has some innate predisposition to having certain tastes, but those tastes have almost certainly been influenced by their experiences (with or without their knowledge).

It's complicated and the answer is both to a degree, but it seems a lot of times interests are born when the right person has the right experience at the right time. (And they might have become quite interested in something else if exposed to something else at the same time)

For something like horror in particular I would guess that there's a bit more predisposition involved, but still - if you have a fun experience with friends who know how to enjoy it - predisposition against can be overcome.

I ask myself things like this somewhat often as I ponder how to get interested in new things.

So of it's some of both it makes me wonder if we have predispositions for things that don't exist anymore or have yet to exist. Like I'm sure most people have felt a longing/emptiness for seemingly nothing specific at times, could that be a natural craving for something unknown but naturally a part of you? Were there natural marval fans, or rap fans or reality TV fans back in 1500s but never got experience that part of themselves?

My nature led me to more methodical genres like RTS, 4X, and narratively driven games, but my experiences in life- often by sheer chance- got me into the stuff I'm huge about now, which are things like visual novels, grand strategy games, and automation games

they liked a thing, it hit a pleasure part of their brain so they leaned intout

theyre probably horror movie fans because horror movies were the first thing to scratch an itch they didnt even realize they had

I would say it's based more on life experiences and emotional attachments than any sort of genetic disposition

Of course, that's why there's different strokes for different folks.

Dawg posted...

Psychologists have been asking this about tons of things and I'm pretty sure the answer in most cases is "we have no way of really knowing"

Speaking as a psychologist, the real answer to most questions psychologists ask is "Let's make shit up and see what happens."

Psychologists are also having a whole replication crisis going on. And probably will for a very long time.

Psychologists are also having a whole replication crisis going on. And probably will for a very long time.