Scientists reveal why Harry Potter gives us goosebumps

From thrills to chills, it’s the hair-raising sensation we all know and love.

Now scientists have unravelled the mystery of the emotions that produce goosebumps, and it’s not as straightforward as you might think.

A team of experts visited Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter to decode exactly what happens when that familiar feeling strikes.

They measured visitor reactions to sets including the spellbinding Great Hall, and scenes such as the spine-tingling moment a dragon destroys Gringotts Bank.

Participants were fitted with hand sensors to monitor physiological responses, including heart rate and skin conductance (Galvanic Skin Response, or GSR).

The latter measures small changes in sweat activity and is widely used to indicate emotional arousal, making it useful for identifying ‘goosebump moments’.

They also rated the intensity of their feelings on a scale of one to five, allowing researchers to match what people felt with how their bodies reacted – and spot when the goosebumps really kicked in.

The team from i2 Media Research based at Goldsmiths, University of London, discovered that not just one but up to seven emotions can prompt the reaction. Joy and nostalgia showed up most often and scored the highest for intensity, with 90%.

Professor Jonathan Freeman, who led the research, said: ‘What’s particularly interesting here is that much of the existing research on goosebump moments – known to scientists as ‘aesthetic chills’ – has tended to look at very short, isolated clips or musical excerpts, usually in tightly controlled lab settings.

‘In contrast, this study examined responses within a more complex, multi-layered and genuinely immersive real-world environment.

‘The Studio Tour offers a particularly strong context for this kind of work, as it brings together spectacle, narrative, and culturally recognisable moments in a unique way that allows different emotional responses to emerge, accumulate, and overlap.’

Some of the biggest reactions were seen at Destroyed Gringotts when a Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon wrecks the wizarding bank.

This part of the tour got the highest peak in skin conductance with GSR spiking at 99% above baseline for one participant when the magical creature was revealed.

The underlying feelings reported here were immersion, excitement and awe.

People experienced the highest number of emotions in the iconic Great Hall where awe, joy, nostalgia, and surprise were all present.

Laura Sinclair-Lazell, head of show experience at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, said: ‘We love to see the wonder and awe when our visitors are transported behind-the-scenes of the filmmaking magic of the Harry Potter film series.

‘It’s fascinating to now understand, thanks to the research, that it has a real physiological effect as they explore the experience.’

A separate survey conducted by Warner Bros found that the average person has six goosebump moments a year and most of these will be real life experiences (95%).

Multiple emotions contributed to the feeling, including excitement (41%), surprise (35%), joy (31%) and nostalgia (21%) and human connection was key.

More than a third (36%) of Brits say they get goosebumps when something feels fantastical, and they can have a lasting effect – indicating why the Harry Potter tour and its recreation of a magical world many discovered as children has such an impact on fans.

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