In this article, Joanne Cantor discusses Jaws along with other famously frightening films that have scared audiences for years. Among the reasons cited by Cantor and her research, emotional impact is a recurring topic.

The responses that included Jaws all had similar analysis of the effects of the film on the viewer. As Cantor notes, many of the students wrote about how the film personally affected them as opposed to others. There were two main categories of emotional effects: those that occurred when the subject was awake and those that took place during “bedtime” hours.

Movies such as Poltergeist, The Blair Witch Project, and Scream share such characteristics, which may be one reason why all of these films have had such documented success in the industry. In particular, Jaws had the most influence on people in the water, with 65% of viewers reporting interference with swimming. Additionally, 43% of the 83% of viewers who cited life-changing effects had ongoing problems from Jaws.       

In her conclusion, Cantor explains that in addition to the emotional effects from Jaws, there might be an evolutionary reason for why people are so affected of traumatic experiences (i.e. horror films). She cites LeDoux’s theory that we have accurate memories of these experiences so as to identify life-threatening situations in the future and act quicker and more rationally.