ABSTRACT
Fascination is a state of sharp sensory and mental attention associated with an urgent desire to gain knowledge of the object of one’s focus. Fascination hungers for contact and learning. It is the quiet aid to many intellectual pursuits. Fascination may be driven by the character of the object, but involves as well the psychological needs of the person intellectually engaged. Some fascinations respond to things that establish or anchor personal identity, for example, a research participant developed a fascination with crime investigation, which led to a career. Many respond with fascination to what is veiled or forbidden. When fascinated, one is always at the edge of dyscontrol because the object is powerful in riveting one’s attention. At times, out-of-control fascination leads to obsession or to addictive behavior. The person becomes enslaved by the object of his or her concentration. Marginal states are highly interesting to us; they engage our need to ascertain how the unusual relates to the ordinary. Liminal conditions often evoke both disgust and fascination.
