The Science of Personality Podcast

Why are we drawn to what scares us? Jackie Sahm and Blake Loepp talk morbid curiosity with Dr. Coltan Scrivner at America's Most Haunted Hotel, the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in this spooky season episode of The Science of Personality.
 
Dr. Coltan Scrivner is a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, a horror entertainment producer and consultant to Hollywood horror productions, and the author of Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away, the book that put morbid curiosity on the map.

Take the Morbid Curiosity Test

Buy Coltan's Book Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away
 
Timestamps: 

00:00 Welcome to America's Most Haunted Hotel + meet Dr. Coltan Scrivner
 08:58 What is morbid curiosity?
 11:08 Building the Morbid Curiosity Scale: the four types
 19:30 Take Coltan's Morbid Curiosity Test: what the scale predicts
 27:19 The paranormal subscale: agent detection, not belief in ghosts
 29:00 Why some people can't stand horror: disgust sensitivity and anxiety
 32:03 Horror as "homebrew exposure therapy": how scary stories calm anxiety
 43:03 The evolution of morbid curiosity: predator inspection
 48:00 Does morbid curiosity change with age?
 51:21 Dark minds, soft hearts: are horror and true crime fans less empathetic?
 1:00:12 Lightning round: scariest movies, Darwin, and life in Eureka Springs
 1:09:08 Bigfoot, ghosts (real or imagined?)
 1:12:40 Why we're drawn to dangerous people, and promote them into leadership
 1:25:56 What makes the Crescent Hotel America's most haunted hotel

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Blake and Jackie kick off the annual spooky season episodes with a very special guest who they had no idea until just recently was a bit of an expert on the topic of witches and witchcraft. As part of some of her coursework at Harvard, Hogan CEO Allison Howell researched this topic extensively, making her the perfect guest to chat with us on a subject that has intrigued, fascinated, and terrified people across the globe for centuries.

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Blake and Jackie are joined by Christopher Duffy, Hogan's director of strategic accounts, and Jennifer Lowe, Hogan's director of solution delivery and learning, for a fascinating journey through Hogan history and lore. Having a combined nearly 60 years of Hogan experience, Chris, Jennifer, and Jackie have worked directly with some of the world's largest organizations, and this episode explores their favorite client projects, their biggest challenges, and their favorite tales from their time at Hogan.

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Blake and special cohost and guest, Jackie Sahm, talk about the things we get wrong about people. Jackie has spent her entire career at Hogan, starting as an intern while in the IO psychology program at the University of Tulsa. From there, she worked her way up to consultant, then to Hogan’s director of global learning, and eventually landing in her current role as Hogan’s VP of integrated solutions. Over the course of that journey, Jackie has seen just about every challenge an organization can face when it comes to people and talent development. In this episode, Blake taps into that knowledge and experience with a wide variety of questions that shine a light on what we get wrong about people 

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Blake and special cohost Jackie Sahm, Hogan’s VP of integrated solutions, are joined by Alexander Haslam, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Queensland, to discuss the topic of Zombie Leadership. This term, coined by Alex and his co-authors, Matt Alvesson, PhD, and Stephen Reicher, PhD, refers to an equally fascinating and destructive phenomenon currently plaguing the global workforce. So, that begs the question: What is Zombie Leadership? What are these undead ideas that continue to walk among us, refusing to die? Check out our conversation with Alex and find out.

Cheers, everybody.

In this special episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake interview guests in person at the 2026 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference in New Orleans. Featured guests include:

Adrian Furnham, PhD, world-renowned psychologist and author

Looking Beyond Engagement and Really Tackling the Organizational Disconnect in Modern Work Psychology 

Irina Cozma, PhD, organizational psychologist and executive coach, Hogan Coaching Network

Designing Work for Humans with a Specific Focus on Inclusion, Fulfillment, and Fun

 Laura Heaton, PhD, vice president of talent development, Penske Transportation Solutions

AND

Ron Festa, PhD, president, New Heights Consulting

Binge-Worthy Leadership Development and Enhancing our Learning Through Popular TV Series

Kevin Impelman, PhD, principal consultant, Summit Leadership Partners

Leadership and the Human Capital Advantage in Private Equity

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by David Condon, PhD, director of Hogan’s newly formed Science of Personality Institute, to discuss his new role and vision for this exciting and innovative extension of the Hogan brand.

In this special episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake interview guests in person at the 2026 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference in New Orleans. Featured guests include:

Gillian Hyde, managing director & chief psychologist, Psychological Consultancy Ltd.

The Leaders We Have vs. The Leaders We Want 

Janine Waclawski, PhD, co-founder and managing partner, Maestro Consulting

Rethinking Talent Management and Challenging Conventional Assumptions

Nikita Mikhailov, chief neuroticism officer, Goodness of Psychology

All Things Psychometrics

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake talk about America’s upcoming 250th anniversary through the lens of Hogan’s point of view on leadership. More specifically, they dive into the core leadership principles that a successful democracy requires and also explore the uniqueness of governments as organizations. 

In this special episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake interview guests in person at the 2026 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference in New Orleans. Featured guests include:

Allan Church, PhD, co-founder and managing partner, Maestro Consulting

The Great AI Debate: Where AI Fits and Where It Doesn’t

Allison Howell, CEO, Hogan Assessments

The Leadership Divide: Hogan’s Global Leadership Effectiveness Survey Findings

Brent Holland, PhD, director of talent assessment, Mondelez International

Hogan History: The Early Days of the Company