Science Answers: Why Are Clowns Scary?

Coulrophobia is what is commonly known as the fear of clowns. Research shows that this fear is present in both adults and children in many different cultures.

The Conversation website tried to answer this question, and to do this, they developed the Clown Fear Inventory, which was completed by an international sample of 987 people aged 18 to 77.

What are the main findings of this survey?:

• More than half of those surveyed (53.5%) said they were afraid of clowns to some degree, and 5% said they were “very afraid” of them.
• Women are more afraid of clowns than men.
• Coulrophobia decreases with age, which again is consistent with research on other fears.

Why are clowns afraid?

The Conversation also provided an additional questionnaire of 53.5% who reported at least some degree of fear of the clown. This new set of questions is linked to eight plausible explanations for the origin of this fear, namely:

• A mysterious or unsettling feeling due to the make-up of clowns, which makes them seem not quite human. A similar response is sometimes seen with dolls or mannequins.
• The exaggerated facial features of the clowns convey a direct sense of menace.
• Clown makeup hides emotional cues and creates insecurity.
• The color of clown makeup reminds us of death, infection, or bloody trauma and causes disgust or avoidance.
• The unpredictable behavior of clowns makes us feel uncomfortable.
• Fear of clowns learned from family members.
• Negative representations of clowns in popular culture.
• Scary clown experience.

One of the strongest reasons for this fear is that clown makeup hides the true expression of the face.

“If makeup that masks emotions is scary, can people with painted faces like animals create the same effect? Or is there something special about clown makeup that evokes this fear? The researchers agree, offering a preview of possible future research into coulrophobia.