Thrill

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Under Thrill (German loanword from: . English to thrill = pierce , penetrate , make tremble , through shudder ) is understood in psychology and risk research an ambiguous emotional experience between fear and desire, between suffering and offers, between success and failure, between hope and anxiety, moving back and forth between negative and positive emotions.

term

The English book title Thrills and Regressions of Michael Balint's depth psychological classic is translated in the German edition with anxiety and regression . This representation as " lust for fear " already covers essential components of the thrill, in particular the internal human processes caused by it. In everyday German , the term is often equated with the catchy word “ thrill ”, which in turn only emphasizes the triggering of feelings. Still others see “thrill” and “kick” as synonyms . However, all of these terms differ significantly and are defined differently in the scientific usage of technical terminology , which depends on precision in expression. Since there is no complete translation of meaning into the German language, the term “thrill” , which is common in international academic exchange, became a loan word that was also preferred in the German text of Balint's book.

Mark

The original English meaning already expresses that a thrill is about strongly disturbing emotional experiences. According to Siegbert A. Warwitz, an ambivalent emotional state is characteristic , in which a high tension arises that repeatedly discharges and builds up again. One can correctly speak of a “roller coaster of feelings”. It is triggered by appropriate stimuli.

The thrill is characterized by an interplay of phases of tension and relief, of oppressive and liberating emotional moments. The special attraction results from the contrast of feelings, whereby the release from the painful phase is experienced as pleasurable. The dominance of positive feelings is sought and expected as the final experience. In contrast to the short discharge of the high voltage in the “kick”, this rollercoaster of emotions lasts for a longer time, i. H. over the entire duration of the tense event. However, the thrill can also culminate in a kick and thus release the experiencer from the psychological stress they have experienced into a spontaneous feeling of happiness.

Word relatives

A thriller is an adventure-intensive event (e.g. a highly dangerous expedition ) or an exciting human creation (e.g. a haunted story , a horror film , a detective novel ) that affects the experiencer, the reader, listener or viewer cause a feeling of shudder, a thrill. This is often promoted by the act of creepy beings such as vampires , werewolves , zombies , mutants or by highly criminal acts. The ups and downs of the exciting events can take place in the psycho-physical, but also in the purely psychological area (psychological thriller ). It can arise from internal or interpersonal events. The film industry knows the variants of the action thriller , the political thriller , the agent thriller , the disaster thriller or the mystery thriller .

The technical terms Thrill-Suche / international Thrill-Seeking (Warwitz) or Sensation Seeking ( Zuckerman ) mark a need for strong tension stimuli. A fixation on the thrill experience can also lead to a tendency towards constant intensification and thus the risk of developing addiction .

The expression thrill-kill established itself for a "killing without a recognizable motive", which is often diagnosed with serial killers and is already practiced by children: The vague statements of the perpetrators suggest that the torture and slow execution of their victims from a perverted Mentality happened and there is a thrill act that causes feelings of pleasure. The news services dpa, AP, AFP and t-online.de quoted the American mass murderer William Spengler on December 26, 2012 with the statement: What I like to do best: Killing people. Spengler stuck u. a. Houses on fire to attract firefighters whom he kills out of sheer lust for murder.

Thrill search and sensation seeking

Both terms are on different levels, come from different areas of knowledge, and each have a different starting point and meaning. They complement each other with regard to the different research approaches and research goals and can therefore be distinguished by technical terminology. There are two main differences:

  • Sensation seeking is more on the physiological level , thrill seeking primarily on the psychological level . Marvin Zuckerman , who created the term "Sensation Seeking", is concerned with scaling the different stimulus mechanisms of people, which Michael Balint had already roughly fixed with the two types of the oknophile and the philobatist . He wants to empirically record the optimal individual stimulus level, so it is primarily scientifically oriented . The thrill search, which is anchored in the humanities , is more about the psychological background of acting in risky situations. Siegbert A. Warwitz, who coined this term and conceptually a contrasting of Thrill search and Skill Search from Risiker ( gambler ) and Wagendem undertook, especially the motivations that meaning and value questions, as well as the analysis of interest to the personal and social consequences of the two very different attitudes and behaviors.
  • The research approach of sensation seeking is also based on a (relatively stable) personality profile , while the thrill search is about situational (changing) behavior .

Life situations

Thrill can be experienced in the commercial offer at fairs and amusement parks ( ghost trains , carousels , horror cinemas ).

It can be used in high ropes courses , canyoning or on adventure trips e.g. In some cases, design them in an educational way. Almost all outdoor as well as indoor sports offer the possibility of thrill at their extreme edges.

The pursuit of thrill can also be found at the gaming table , for example in roulette , when it comes to winning and losing high stakes. The high psychological tension sought and the fluctuation of feelings in alternating situations are essential.

In the absence of real experience opportunities in our security-oriented societies, many children and adolescents seek to satisfy their need for thrill in computer games as well. For this, the trade offers a wide range of the action games on the space - the mystery - and war games to the killer games .

The phenomenon of thrill among extreme athletes and cross-border commuters has been scientifically investigated most intensively : The venture researchers differentiate between people who are reflective, well prepared, technically competent and responsibly exposed to high risks ( skill seekers ), and those who tend to be frivolous and frivolous Put yourself into danger without thinking (thrill seeker).

Children, adolescents and adults, ordinary people in need of security and philobatists have different starting points and demands when it comes to the desire to experience thrills. However, the motivation is always based on a need for adventure and excitement anchored in most people, which is looking for a field of experience.

social acceptance

The well-visited amusement parks , the successful adventure tourism and the wide range of fun sports up to and including extreme sports are indications of a high human need for thrills, which offer a contrast to the often monotonous professional life. It creates the opportunity to feel yourself more intensely, to test your willingness to take risks and your limits, to release emotions with like-minded people and to have fun. Risk research also deals with the ethical basis of dangerous behavior. According to Warwitz or Zuckerman, experiencing thrills does not need ethical exaggeration. It justifies itself from the natural and therefore legitimate need of people for tension and adventure and is not worthy of criticism as long as life, health and property are not damaged and the urge for adventure does not degenerate into addiction . On this basis, the international alpine clubs ( Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA)) insist on a responsible perceived right to take risks in mountain sports.

See also

literature

  • Michael Balint: Thrills and Regressions . London 1959. ISBN 978-0823665402 .
  • Andi Dick: The right to take risks . In: Berg 2012 . Alpine Club Yearbook. Tyrolia. Munich-Innsbruck-Vienna-Bozen 2012. pp. 186–195.
  • A. Huber: Life as a thriller. Thrill or hit or miss? In: Psychologie heute 6 (1994) pp. 64–69.
  • A. Kraft, G. Ortmann (Ed.): Computer and Psyche. Fear pleasure at the computer . Frankfurt 1988.
  • Peter Murakami, Julia Murakami: Lexicon of serial killers. 450 case studies of a pathological type of killing . 7th edition. Ullstein paperback. Munich 2001. ISBN 3-548-35935-3 .
  • HW Opaschowski: “Thrilling” as a new leisure movement . In: Ders .: Freizeit 2001 (project study). Hamburg 1992. pp. 50-54.
  • Sacha-Roger Szabo: Intoxication and hype. Attractions at fairs and amusement parks. A sociological cultural history. Transcript. Bielefeld 2006. ISBN 3-89942-566-9 .
  • Georg Seeßlen: Thriller. Stoke the cinema of fear . Marburg 1995. ISBN 3-89472-422-6 .
  • Gerhard Wahrig: German Dictionary . Gütersloh 1970. Sp. 3562.
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Attempts to explain cross-border behavior . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .
  • Marvin Zuckerman: Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking . Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press 1994. ISBN 0-521-43770-9 .

Single receipts

  1. ^ Gerhard Truig: German dictionary . Gütersloh 1970. Sp. 3562
  2. ↑ Michael Balint: Thrills and Regressions . London 1959
  3. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: When woe and bliss alternate . In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Attempts to explain cross-border behavior . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, pp. 142–155
  4. ↑ Georg Seeßlen: Thriller. Cinema of fear . Schüren, Marburg 1995
  5. ↑ Peter Murakami, Julia Murakami: Lexicon of serial killers. 450 case studies of a pathological type of killing . 7th edition, Munich 2001
  6. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Attempts to explain cross-border behavior . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, pp. 293 and 336
  7. ^ Sacha-Roger Szabo: Rausch und Rummel. Attractions at fairs and amusement parks. A sociological cultural history . Transcript. Bielefeld 2006
  8. ↑ A. Kraft, G. Ortmann (Ed.): Computer und Psyche. Fear pleasure at the computer . Frankfurt 1988
  9. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: sensational addiction or search for meaning. Thrill or skill . In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Attempts to explain cross-border behavior . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, pp. 296–308
  10. ↑ A. Huber: Life as a thriller. Thrill or hit or miss? In: Psychologie heute 6 (1994) pp. 64–69
  11. ^ HW Opaschowski: "Thrilling" as a new leisure movement . In: Ders .: Freizeit 2001 (project study). Hamburg 1992. pp. 50-54
  12. ↑ The risk must be worth it (PDF; 637 kB). mountaineering. at. Innsbruck 2011
  13. ^ Marvin Zuckerman: Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking . Cambridge 1994
  14. ^ Andi Dick: From the right to risk . In: Berg 2012 . Alpine Club Yearbook. Tyrolia, Munich-Innsbruck-Vienna-Bozen 2012, pp. 186–195.