Episode 302: The Psychology Behind Attraction To Monsters
June 18, 2024 by Justin Lehmiller
From the vampires and werewolves in Twilight to Bigfoot to the beast from Beauty and the Beast, it turns out that a lot of people are turned on by the idea of getting it on with a monster. But why is that? Where do these attractions come from in the first place? In this episode, we’re going to explore the rich psychology that helps to explain why monstrous, mythical, and scary creatures can sometimes become turn-ons.
I am joined once again by Ella Gallego, a researcher, writer, and the founder of the Monstrous Desire Study. The study examines the cultural history of erotic monsters around the globe based on research data from over 2,200 respondents. Ella was my guest in the previous episode, in which we explored people’s biggest monster crushes.
Some of the topics we cover in this episode include:
- What physical or other attributes of monsters do people find arousing?
- To what extent do monster fantasies overlap with interest in kink and BDSM?
- What is the role of fear in sexual arousal?
- Why do monster fantasies seem to be particularly appealing to women and LGBTQ+ folks?
- How important is it for us to understand where our sexual fantasies come from?
You can check out Ella’s website to learn more about her work.
Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology.
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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.
Dr. Justin Lehmiller
Founder & Owner of Sex and PsychologyDr. Justin Lehmiller is a social psychologist and Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute. He runs the Sex and Psychology blog and podcast and is author of the popular book Tell Me What You Want. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, and a prolific researcher who has published more than 50 academic works.
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