Why do we get goosebumps?
The short answer
Goosebumps are an evolutionary response shared by mammals to insulate us from the cold and make us appear bigger to potential threats. We also get them in response to sudden rushes of emotion, which our brain sometimes initially labels as a potential threat.
The long answer
Goosebumps, heebie-jeebies, goosepimples – whatever you call it – are the result of piloerection, a muscle contraction that temporarily raises the hairs on the surface of the skin.
Why do we get goosebumps? There are a couple of reasons:
Reason #1: We're cold and want to warm up
The most common reason we get goosebumps is because we're cold and raising our hair helps to insulate our body heat. Our furrier ancestors benefited more from this response, but we've retained this physiological response nonetheless.
Reason #2: We're scared and want to look frightening
Goosebumps also occur when something in our surroundings has alarmed us. The reason why our body automatically raising our hair in this situation is to make us look bigger and potentially scare off the thing that might hurt us (e.g. a predator). Again, this is a lot more useful if we had more fur to begin with, but you'll see this in other mammals, like a cat raising the fur on its back.
Reason #3: We're emotional and our brain is confused
Sometimes when we have a sudden rush of emotion or stimulation – like feeling thrilled, sad, awestruck, angry, or aroused – we experience goosebumps. The reason why is less clear, but it's thought that there might be a mixup between our emotional and rational brains. The emotional brain is constantly on the lookout for threats that might kill us and essentially any surprise is considered a potential threat.
So when we gaze upon the Grand Canyon in person for the first time and are struck by its vastness or when we watch a moment of tragedy in a moving or when we hear a singer hit an incredible note in a song, our emotional brain considers it a surprise and thus a threat. This triggers goosebumps as an automatic response. Only when our rational brain catches up and determines it's not a threat do our goosebumps go away.
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Sources
Cleveland Clinic. (2023, March 28). Goosebumps: The What, When and Why. Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-do-you-get-goosebumps/
Schmidt, M. (2019, August 12). Why Do People Get Goosebumps?. Discover Magazine. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-do-people-get-goosebumps
Walker-Journey, J. (2022, April 29). Why Do Certain Experiences Give Us Goosebumps?. HowStuffWorks Science. https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/goosebumps.htm
