What Your Childhood Halloween Costume Says About You, According to Psychologists

As children, our Halloween costumes can be influenced by any number of factors, including family, friends, school events, or pop culture. If you were a child who opted for a cute Halloween costume growing up (Think: a cat, a pumpkin, a bunny, or a rainbow), chances are you were a soft-spoken child with a kind demeanor. For you, dressing up for Halloween was less about grabbing people’s attention and more about feeling comfortable and having fun, Dr. Saladino says.

Depending on your family dynamic, the way you were raised may also have played a role in why you opted for a traditionally sweet or simple costume. “I think some of it is like the genderized norms of the home you grow up in,” Nasir says. “So if you are in a very genderized home and the boys are always the knights and the girls are the princesses, that is something you will lean towards. If you are in a home that is very infantilizing then you will seek out that kind of stuff yourself – and this is not a positive or a negative; it’s just a home environment. So I think kids who do tend to gravitate towards that have that kind of home environment and they might be a little gentler. They might not be as temperamental.”

If you were the type of kid to go straight for the scary Halloween costume – horror movie villains, zombies, vampires covered in fake blood, etc. – it’s likely you enjoyed putting the “trick” in “trick-or-treat.” Because frightening costumes catch people’s attention and leave an impact on their emotions, scary costumes can also be seen as a way to reclaim power, Dr. Saladino says.

“I think the kids who like to be scared enjoy that rush of it,” Nasir adds. “They don’t really understand it, obviously, but those are the kids who grow up to want to go bungee jumping, or they become Tom Cruise, doing their own stunts at 60. They’re thrill seekers. They might be more adventurous; they might be more extroverted, and be more interested in cultural folklore and stories and tales that are a little bit on the darker side. And they want to engage in that role play.”

Of course, it’s possible you were just an avid fan of cult classic horror films growing up. More likely than not, though, you feel most at ease when you’re able to tap into that spookier side of yourself.

For anyone who considered themself a class clown as a kid, choosing a funny Halloween costume was probably a no-brainer. While selecting a funny Halloween costume could indicate that you had a good sense of humor as a child, according to Dr. Jones, it could also mean you enjoyed having the ability to make other people laugh.

As with scary costumes, funny costumes are about power. In this case, though, the power is not the ability to frighten people but the power to exude a positive reaction from someone. “When people commit to funny costumes, they’re also, in the back of their minds, committing to making other people laugh,” Nasir says. “That can come from two different places. One is extraversion, and then there’s also a sense of empathy there – people who want to be joyful and want to bring joy into a party and want to make people laugh, even as a kid.”

Whether you were team Marvel or DC growing up, dressing as your favorite superhero was likely your way of stepping into your confidence. Though you may not have been the most assertive child, dressing up as a superhero was a chance to feel like the most empowered, secure version of yourself. “It’s less about making other people feel a certain way but probably about feeling more powerful and confident within themselves,” Dr. Saladino says of people who chose to dress as superheroes when they were kids. “It’s hard to put on a cape and not feel better about yourself.”

As children, there are few opportunities to feel empowered. Halloween, though, extends the opportunity to personify whoever we choose, whether it’s Catwoman, Spider-Man, or the pink Power Ranger. In the same way we wear our favorite shoes or outfit to special events as adults, as kids, we tend to put on costumes that make us feel good about ourselves, effectively influencing how we carry ourselves. Superhero costumes, in particular, can make us feel strong and self-assured, even if that’s not how we normally behave.

“I think that anybody dressing up for Halloween should really think about if they’re dressing up because it makes them feel empowered or because they think that somebody else wants to see this version of them,” Shapiro says of wearing Halloween costumes. “There’s a very big difference. If you are dressing up for somebody else, even if it’s subconsciously, then you will not feel empowered. The second somebody looks at you and they don’t necessarily one hundred percent give you the validation or the affirmation that you thought you would receive, you’re going to feel like garbage. That happens whenever we’re doing something for external validation.” If, instead, we wear costumes that personally make us feel more empowered, “you’re not going to need the validation from anybody else,” she adds.

For many kids, Halloween is an opportunity to embody their favorite character or celebrity. “It’s a way to be like, ‘Hey, I can also be a part of [this world],'” Nasir says. “It’s what we used to do as kids: we would play pretend. So we tap into our fantasy and imagination and we get to really participate with our physical body in something that we only see on the screen or read in books.”

Whether you admired the Spice Girls or Anne Hathaway in “The Princess Diaries,” Halloween opened the door to become part of their world. Depending on what they meant to you, personally, dressing up as a celebrity or character could have been an indication of your admiration for them or a way to fit in and get conversations started among friends.

While there’s nothing wrong with a store-bought costume, for some kids, creating a costume for Halloween is the main event. Even more fun than wearing the outfit to collect candy from neighbors, the DIY route gives children the opportunity to have a say in how elaborate their costumes will be. “I think some people naturally like the process more than other people,” Dr. Saladino says. “I think some people really get into the fun of it.”

For those who went all in with their costumes as kids, this might speak to your passions and levels of creativity as a child. Rather than wanting to put on a show, you were likely detail-oriented and had just as much fun planning your outfit as you did wearing it on Halloween.

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.”

As fun as it is to dress up on Halloween, it’s possible that you were the type who just didn’t get the hype and skipped putting on a costume altogether. While many factors may prevent someone from wearing a Halloween costume – availability, accessibility, finances – those who chose not to as children may have preferred to express their creativity in other ways.

“It might just be that they’re not interested in a visual craft creative display,” Nasir says. “That doesn’t mean that they’re not creative; it might mean that they might like to read; maybe they are into sports and that kind of takes most of their mind space; and they’re just not interested in imaginative play.” These people are better classified as observers than participators, according to Dr. Jones.

Whether you preferred reading spooky stories over planning elaborate costumes or vice versa as a kid, there’s no wrong way to do Halloween. How we choose to dress up as children might be a reflection on our personalities. More than anything, though, our costume choices – then and now – are a way to indulge our imaginations and revel in the magic of Halloween.