You're not alone in your coulrophobia—far from it, in fact. A stunning 53.5% of people are afraid of clowns, a phobia that doesn't generally seem to stem from bad encounters with clowns at all, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of South Wales surveyed 987 people ages 18 to 72, with more than half responding they were scared of clowns to some degree. Some 5% said they were "extremely afraid," which is a higher percentage than reported in surveys on other common phobias, including fear of animals (3.8%), heights (2.8%), closed spaces (2.2%), and flying (1.3%), researchers write at the Conversation.
A follow-up survey given to respondents who reported some fear of clowns asked them to choose from eight options that might explain their trepidation, as detailed in the study published last month in Frontiers in Psychology. A scary experience with a clown was actually the weakest contributing factor, per New Atlas. The strongest factor was hidden emotional signals as a result of clown makeup. "We cannot see their 'true' faces and therefore cannot understand their emotional intent. So, for example, we don't know whether they have a frown or a furrowed brow, which would indicate anger," according to researchers.
They were left wondering if "faces painted as animals also create the same kind of effect," or if there's "something more particular about the makeup of clowns that drives this fear." It could be that hidden emotions seem especially hazardous given negative portrayals of clowns in popular culture, their unpredictable behavior, and a feeling of repulsion toward near-human-looking objects—all strong factors in coulrophobia, researchers found. Overall, women were more likely to report fear based on physical appearance and behavior, while men were more likely to report fear derived from experience and learning. The good news is that, like with other phobias, fear of clowns is found to decrease with age. (More clowns stories.)
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