The Psychology Behind Fear Seeking

Paul Rousin: Aristotle did put forth a theory of horror as catharsis. He says it's an idea that was part of Freudian psychoanalysis, but has been debunked. The modern science of emotion regulation and psychotherapy suggests that in most cases, we just kindle and it's worse to vent, to be cathartic. We want to be scared of things that may endanger us; why would we want to seek out the same fear when there is no real danger?