There's a psychological reason you're terrified of clowns

By: Angeli Kakade, Buzz60

Clowns are about as creepy as creepy things get but just why do we find these wig and make up donned people so frightening?

Despite the history of clowns going back thousands of years, Some experts say our association with fear and clowns is fairly recent - thanks to a serial killer in the 70s dubbed Pogo The Clown causing Hollywood to take advantage of the panic with films like Stephen King's It.

Related: Scary clown sightings

Still clowns have maintained their high level of creepiness , but what is creepy? One psychologist set out to study why people perceive certain things or people as creepy

The study asked 1,341 people ages 18-77 to fill out a survey rating behaviors of what we think creepy people have. Like unusual eye contact or physical touching. A second survey had them rate the creepiness of different occupations. And in final section, participants listed two hobbies they perceived as creepy.

The results showed clowns as the most creepy occupation - consistent with the study's theory that creepiness levels were increased when the subject felt uncertain about a threat. Clowns wear make up and disguises that make them ambiguous in a time when society encourage hyper awareness of our surroundings to avoid danger.

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