questions regarding the
psychological needs of
dark tourists. A burning desire to connect
with other people´s
suffering? Or simply a
perverse interest in the
pain of others? Push
and pull factors both
involve motivation, but
what motivates dark
What drives us to seek
out horror?
Almost all animals
exhibit curiosity, so it is
no wonder that it plays
a part in our motivation
to seek out new experiences. Our curiosity
to seek out dark tourism may hinge upon
wanting to investigate
death or to feel our
own mortality. Either
way, it is curiosity that
serves as the psychological push factor that
begins our journey.
If curiosity is human
nature, then it is human
nature to be drawn to
places that satisfy this
need to explore the
darker side of humanity. Dark tourism helps
separate
a
macabre curiosity from the
harsh reality of death
and make it morally
acceptable to visit a
8
site of an atrocity, a
buffer as such between
witnessing death and
dying itself.
Curiosity can be linked
to novelty, or a desire
to be different. If you
are sick of the standard
holiday on a beach, or
want to stand out from
the crowd, then dark
tourism has a certain
allure. We are all interested in new experiences - remember once
going to a beach was a
novel experience, but
after many years it is
nothing new. Once we
were curious of the
beach, but now as we
have grown up, our
curiosity reaches for
more abstract places. I
am sure you can think
of a friend or acquaintance who loves to be
the center of attention