Coltan Scrivner
PhD Candidate
Department of Comparative Human Development
Fellow
Institute for Mind and Biology
The University of Chicago
Biography
I’m currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Comparative Human Development at The University of Chicago and a Fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology in the Behavioral Biology Lab. Broadly, I’m interested in how humans interact with and perceive one another. What are the social, cognitive, and biological factors that influence social behavior? Most of my current research centers around how people perceive potentially dangerous (either socially or physically) individuals and situations. In partcular, I am interested in how people find enjoyment (and perhaps learn something) from fictionally dangerous scenarios. From this perspective, I’ve been focusing on the phenomenon of morbid curiosity - why are people interested in or curious about violence and horror and what do people get from engaging in recreational fear? I use a variety of tools in my research, including hormone analysis, behavioral analysis, eye tracking, surveys, and interviews. My research has also been covered by a variety of news and media outlets, including New Scientist, National Geographic, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, The New York Times, Forbes, Nautilus, Vice, and Psycom
Interests
- Morbid Curiosity
- Psychology of Horror
- Social Cognition
- Evolution of Emotions
Education
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PhD in Comparative Human Development - Behavioral Biology, 2022 (expected)
The University of Chicago
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MS in Forensic Science - Biology/Chemistry with honors, 2016
The University of Central Oklahoma
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BA in Anthropology with honors, 2014
