MARGEE KERR SOCIOLOGIST

Fear is sociologist Margee Kerr’s job. As a scientist who studies people and social relationships, she’s worked in and designed haunted houses and wrote a book about scary experiences, all with the goal of understanding fear.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN FEAR?

As a sociologist, I’ve always been interested in understanding how people and groups relate to each other. I was curious about how people decided who was “in” and who was “out.” Through my years of research and education I learned fear is often behind acts of hate and discrimination, and that people sometimes fear those who are different, leading to racism, homophobia, sexism, and intolerance in general. My goal became to understand fear from every angle, from what we