As a kid, Halloween doled out magic the same way our neighbors handed out candy bars: quickly and plentifully. Now, the holiday still holds a childlike kind of enchantment, thanks in large part to one classic Halloween tradition: dressing up.
Whether we were coordinating Halloween costumes with siblings to go trick-or-treating or we had special ensembles just for school, our look set the tone for a night of fun and mischief. With the help of a few experts, we’re reflecting on some of the most popular Halloween costumes for kids and what they say about our personalities.
Excited to dig deeper into the psychology of Halloween costumes, we asked Natalie Jones, PsyD, Israa Nasir, MHC-LP, Lynn Saladino, PsyD, and Aliza Shapiro, LCSW, to share their opinions about the potential correlation between our personalities and our costume choices as children. None of the following analyses are rooted in psychological sciences and cannot be backed up by scientific studies. Still, their conjectures overlap enough to indicate that our temperament as kids might have had more impact on our Halloween costumes than we thought.
As adults, the meaning behind our Halloween costumes are typically intentional. But as children, what we wanted to dress up as could’ve been an indication of qualities we weren’t aware of at the time. By putting on a Halloween costume, we were able to tap into those subdued sides of ourselves. “We talk a lot about play in therapy. A lot of times, when we’re pretending to be someone else, it allows us access to pieces of ourselves that we may not get to access on a regular basis,” Dr. Saladino tells PS.
If you’ve ever wanted to know why you got so much use out of that Superman cape as a kid or what drove you to make the most detailed witch costume three years in a row, see what our team of experts has to say ahead.
Experts Featured in This Article
Natalie Jones, PsyD, is an expert therapist and CEO of Lifetime Counseling and Consulting.
Israa Nasir, MHC-LP, is a psychotherapist, speaker, and founder of the digital mental health brand WellGuide.
Lynn Saladino, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist based in New York City. Her private practice, Dr. Lynn Psychology, PLLC, has brought a holistic and practical approach to mental wellness for the New York City and Boston communities for almost 15 years.
Aliza Shapiro, LCSW, is a licensed psychotherapist in New York City and founder of Therapy in the City, LCSW PLLC.
