Here's an article about why dolls make us anxious/afraid. It's conditioning by movies, tv, etc.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/your-fear-of-dolls-is-totally-normal-according-to-a-psychologist/ar-BBOiwOI?ocid=spartandhp[Your Fear of Dolls is Totally Normal, According to a Psychologist
Leah Groth 14 hrs ago
© New Line Cinema/Evergreen Media Group/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Why exactly do people fear dolls? We spoke to a psychologist to find out the science behind it, when fear crosses into phobia, and how to deal with it.
If the sight of your grandmother’s old china dolls gives you goose bumps, you aren’t alone. While very little research has been conducted about the fear of dolls, all you have to do is look at the abundance of popular movies and television shows featuring the (often murderous) children’s toys to realize that a lot of people shudder at the sight of them.
Halloween is just around the corner, and you are pretty much guaranteed to see at least one creepy doll costume. But why exactly are dolls so scary to some people? We spoke to a psychologist to find out.
Why do so many people have a fear of dolls?
It’s important to note that most youngsters aren’t actually afraid of dolls, explains clinical psychologist Kate Wolitzky-Taylor, PhD, a faculty member in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA. “People aren’t born being afraid of dolls,” she explains. “In fact, many kids like them.”
Instead, the fear you feel is conditioned over the years, likely by all of the evil dolls you see in pop culture. Anyone who has seen one of the many Puppet Master, Annabelle (pictured above), or Chucky movies, viewed one of their posters, or even just heard the chilling music accompanying their trailers might be able to understand how this could happen.
But why do you fear dolls that aren’t in movies?
You begin to associate the fear you absorb from specific fear-inducing situations with other dolls, even those that are seemingly innocent. “This consistent pairing of dolls with other creepy, scary stimuli may lead to experiencing fear or nervousness when confronted with a doll or an image of a doll,” says Wolizky-Taylor. “Learning is a big factor, whether it’s direct learning experiences, or vicarious learning through others.”
While few people have studied the specific fear of dolls, there has been research conducted on what gives us the heebie jeebies in general. In 1970, Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori coined the term “uncanny valley” to describe the discomfort that arises in people when they see robots that are very similar to, but not quite human.
At first, people respond well to robots even as they become more realistic, but at a certain point that changes. It usually happens when the robots are very close to being life-like, but then do something that is out of human character. That’s when you start to find them unnerving and possibly creepy. Basically, while we are attracted to just how similar they are to humans, we are also a bit afraid because they are different.
In one international study, researchers surveyed more than 1,000 people about general “creepiness” and concluded that ambiguity-when something is open to more than one interpretation-is a big factor in what triggers those feelings of fear. For instance, you see a doll (or even a clown, also feared by many) in a scary movie, and it understandably provokes fear. But when something or someone may not be dangerous at all-say, a doll on a shelf-it may still seem unpredictable to you, and therefore, totally creepy. ]
The article continues into phobia territory, which is rare, then concludes with advice that if doll horror creeps you out, don't watch.
