Psychologists Explain the Meaning Behind Halloween Costumes
What Your Childhood Halloween Costume Says About You, According to Psychologists
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Dressing up for Halloween can be a highly individualized process. For some kids, though, wearing a group costume was always more fun than going alone. If you were a child who wore group costumes frequently, you likely appreciated a sense of community and cohesiveness. These multi-person ensembles might also indicate that you were more agreeable, collaborative, and willing to go along with the best interests of the group, according to Nasir.
On the other hand, if you had a preference for solo costumes, it's possible you appreciated the freedom to express your individuality during Halloween. "I think the kids who like to fly solo are more individually driven in their creativity," Nasir says. "They want control over what the costume is and they value their uniqueness. I think being an independent individual, especially at that age, is really difficult. It also might be that they have a hard time working in groups. There's pros and cons to almost everything but I think it is led by their own creativity and their uniqueness."
Of course, when it comes to dressing up as a group or wearing an individual Halloween costume, there is no right or wrong. "If you have an intuitive pull towards doing something on your own, run with it," Shapiro says. "If you have a pull to do something with a community, that's also a very powerful experience. In the same way that we can find power in expressing ourselves individually, we can find power and express ourselves in a community. Neither is right or wrong. It's just a very personal choice."