Why do some people cry during dramas while others relax with horror or sci-fi? How predictable are your movie choices, really? Could a stranger guess you’re a rom-com fan, a musical lover, or someone who swears by Korean thrillers and Asian horror?
Let’s explore genre expectations and why movie genre is important in psychology.
Understanding Audience Engagement in Genres
There are a few lenses through which psychology views our film preferences: gender, personality, the level of empathy, and even how our brain prefers to be stimulated.
What Your Favorite Film Genre Says About Your Brain
According to a brain imaging study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, our favorite movie genres may align with how our brains process emotional stimuli. Using fMRI scans, researchers found that fans of action films and comedies showed heightened neural activity in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, areas tied to emotion and reward, when exposed to angry or fearful faces. In contrast, viewers who preferred documentaries, thrillers, or crime films had more subdued reactions, suggesting a more regulated or analytical emotional profile.
This finding supports the theory that genre preference isn’t random but reflects deeper cognitive and emotional traits. Viewers drawn to documentaries or psychological thrillers may be less reactive to raw emotional cues and more stimulated by intellectual complexity, tension, or subtle narrative dynamics. As the research explains, it appears that people choose the film genres that most optimally stimulate their brains.
Why Do We Gravitate Toward Certain Film Genres?
Research suggests that sometimes, it is as predictable as we think. A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that drama was the most easily predicted genre when mapping film preferences to personality traits. Comedy and thriller, on the other hand, proved to be trickier, since humor and suspense are more subjective, shaped by individual life experiences and cultural context.
The same study explores how gender stereotypes influence what we think others enjoy. Men were expected to favor action, sci-fi, and horror, while women were linked to romance, drama, and comedy. Surprisingly, both men and women held these assumptions. And while stereotypes were directionally accurate in 11 of 17 genres, most people overestimated how different male and female preferences really are.
Still, genre preferences aren’t hardwired. For example:
- Social learning theory suggests that we absorb behaviors and values from the characters we watch, especially in drama or social-issue films.
- Reinforcing spiral model proposes that the more we watch content that aligns with our feelings or worldview—like socially conscious dramas or character-driven stories—the more likely we are to seek out similar films in the future.
- Desensitization theory explains how repeated exposure to intense or violent content, like horror or war films, can dull our emotional responses, making those genres more palatable (or even appealing) to some audiences.
This means that while gender and personality play a role, what we love to watch is also deeply shaped by empathy, identity, and how we emotionally engage with the world onscreen. Let’s break down how movie genres correlate with their audiences psychologically.
Comedy: Relief Through Laughter
Let’s start with the boring stuff: the science behind the genre. Comedy is built on mammalian play systems, and laughter functions as a ritualized release of arousal. It turns negative stimuli into social bonding mechanisms through shared laughter and play contracts, says the study on how film genres are a product of biology, evolution, and culture.
In evolutionary terms, comedy helps us process awkwardness or discomfort in safe, shared ways. No wonder the comedy genre is popular: A British Film Institute study confirmed that comedy ranks as one of the most universally enjoyed genres across genders, age groups, and education levels, a level of cross-demographic popularity rarely matched by other genres.
Who Are the People Who Love Comedy Movies?
People who prefer comedy are often driven by what psychologists call hedonistic gratification—they’re in it for feel-good vibes, not heavy moral lessons or existential crises. In fact, comedies are one of the top genre choices for mood regulation, offering a reliable way to de-stress. This aligns with Uses and Gratifications Theory, which argues that we pick media based on what we need in the moment, like comfort, distraction, joy, or release.
Comedy fans tend to score high in agreeableness, which means they’re friendly, cooperative, and emotionally attuned. At the same time, they often show lower openness to experience, meaning they prefer familiar and straightforward stories over complex or abstract ones.
What Comedy Films Give Us
Grodal, the author of the study on film genres, also notes that comedy acts as a social ritual. Laughter synchronizes emotions among viewers, creating a kind of temporary emotional community. This also explains why we’re 30 times more likely to laugh in company than when alone. Comedy, in this way, serves as a safe space for processing conflict, awkwardness, and even pain. It’s what researchers call the benign violation theory.
Another article by a psychology professor M.I. Yanovski, shows that comedy helps affirm identity, allowing viewers to adopt archetypal roles like the jester, the whistleblower, or the underdog. See for yourself with UVOtv’s comedy collection.
Drama: Empathy and Emotional Resonance
Who are the drama lovers, the genre we often think of as “emotional,” “heartfelt,” or just plain “for women”? Yes, women did say they like drama more than men in a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, but the gap was much smaller than assumed. So while it’s true that drama viewers often identify with characters, morally approve or disapprove of their actions, and consider the reasons behind their decisions, the idea that men don’t care for drama at all is not backed up by the data.
According to cognitive film scholar Torben Grodal, drama and tragedy function as a communal space to process grief, injustice, and moral dilemmas—often the emotional turning points of life. Grodal explains that films like dramas and melodramas allow audiences to bond over shared values, reflect on ethical questions, and even heal through story.
Neurology supports this idea. In the aforementioned fMRI study at Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, researchers found that drama fans showed heightened activity in both the amygdala and the reward center of the brain when exposed to emotionally intense imagery. This doesn’t mean some people are “hardwired” to like drama, but it does mean their brains respond more actively to emotional cues, making drama a genre that naturally resonates with them. And. There’s no gender correlation. Ready to see for yourself with drama movies on UVOtv?
Action and Adventure: Excitement and Control
From a cultural and demographic perspective, action and adventure genres attract young males. The British Film Institute’s audience analysis found that viewers aged 15–30 are the core demographic for thrill-seeking, competitive, and more likely to value dominance-based narratives.
According to a 2023 study from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, fans of action films showed some of the strongest neural responses when exposed to negative emotional stimuli, such as angry or fearful faces. Interestingly, this contradicts the common assumption that people drawn to high-stimulation content are desensitized. In fact, the research team found the opposite: the more reactive the brain, the more appealing these intense narratives became.
Evolutionary film theorist Torben Grodal takes this a step further. In his framework, action and adventure films mirror ancient survival mechanisms he calls HTTOFF scenarios: Hiding, Tracking, Trapping, Observing, Fighting, and Fleeing. These are inherited behavioral templates wired into the human nervous system from our reptilian and mammalian ancestors. When we watch action films, we reconnect with primal instincts such as fight-or-flight, group loyalty, and territorial protection.
Using the Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory, Grodal argues that action films often hinge on moral clarity—good vs. evil, justice vs. chaos—which resonate with viewers who respond strongly to loyalty, authority, and purity. If you feel like it’s about you, check out UVOtv action movies and adventure movies.
Sci-Fi and Fantasy: Imagination and Ideals
Sci-fi and fantasy are often associated with escapism. According to the British Film Institute (BFI) report, science fiction tends to attract more male viewers, especially in action-oriented subgenres. Fantasy, on the other hand, often draws a more gender-balanced audience, particularly when it blends world-building with romantic or symbolic narratives.
The emotional appeal also differs. sci-fi tends to activate the “seeking” system, a dopamine-driven brain circuit linked to curiosity and problem-solving. It’s no surprise that fans of sci-fi often enjoy crime, mystery, and other narrative-driven genres that ask big questions or demand analytical thinking. Grodal notes that this genre allows for moral rehearsal, offering viewers a safe space to contemplate justice, loyalty, and identity without the constraints of realism.
Some theoretical frameworks suggest that viewers who enjoy sci‑fi may be higher in emotional intelligence, drawn to its layered narratives and ethical exploration. Together, sci-fi and fantasy invite viewers to project themselves into possibility. See for yourself with UVOtv sci-fi movies variety.
Trends and Evolution in Film Genres
One major insight from the studies mentioned above is that the film industry may be leaning too hard on outdated stereotypes. For example, while many assume romance is a “female” genre, research shows plenty of men enjoy it too, just not as loudly.
We’re also learning that genre preferences are multi-dimensional and go beyond personality traits. It’s about your emotional motivations, cultural background, and even your current mood. One thesis found that people who seek excitement are more likely to enjoy horror or sci-fi, not necessarily because they’re thrill-seekers on paper, but because they use movies for stimulation.
Streaming platforms are reshaping the game, too. With endless recommendations and lower barriers to trying new content, viewers now blend genres more freely. That’s why hybrids like sci-fi romance or horror-comedy are gaining traction, they offer familiar emotional payoffs with fresh twists. As Grodal (2017) puts it, genres “compete” and adapt over time, borrowing successful narrative “genes” (like revenge plots or love triangles) to survive in new cultural climates.
Explore Different Film Genres With UVOtv
So while genre tastes may reflect deep psychological patterns, they also reveal a shared desire: to see ourselves in stories that matter. That’s exactly what UVOtv is here for. By spotlighting underrepresented filmmakers and bringing emotionally resonant, genre-rich films to North American audiences for free, we’re making sure every story has a home, and every viewer finds a film that speaks to them. Start exploring international indie movies now.
