(NETWORK IN) With clowns getting bad press lately, it’s not surprising to one Ball State psychology instructor when people say they hate clowns or that they’re scared of them. They used to be for kids entertainment. Now they are being portrayed more and more as villains.
“You know ‘It” was a popular book by Stephen King and obviously now we’re seeing the movie version of that resurrected at this point. You had John Wayne Gacy who basically was the clown serial killer,” said Adam Lueke, a psychology instructor at Ball State University.
He said the fear of clowns is called coulrophobia.
“You don’t think of them as naturally dangerous. So, when they do become dangerous, it kind of turns the world on its head, makes you feel like, if these things are supposed to be innocent and they’re dangerous, what in bthe world is safe,” said Lueke.
A parent’s protective nature can also make them wary of clowns, he said.
“A parent’s greatest fear is something happening to their child, so it stands to reason that clowns are scary because they are adults who come into contact with children with the specific, innocent purpose of entertaining them—but that underneath the makeup they could just be another messed-up adult who could do something awful to the children he is entertaining.”
“The fact that clown makeup and dress is literally a disguise for an adult who may or may not be stable and which gives him access to children also plays into feelings of fear,” he said.
Lueke said the trend of making clowns scary may by cyclical.
“It might be one of those cyclical things where people just forget about it after a while. Maybe it’s clowns turn for a little bit and maybe it’ll move to vampires or werewolves.”
