>>29614816Actual explanation: the brain isn't very good at differentiating between arousal from positive and negative sources when both are present.
Scientists did a study where they had two groups: One group had a conversation with a mildly attractive person of the opposite gender, and then rated their attractiveness put of 10. The other group did the same, but before they chatted they walked over a rickety rope bridge over a crevasse. Even when they chatted with the exact same people, the rope bridge group consistently rated the attractiveness of the people they were talking to as much higher than the group that didn't walk over the crevasse.
So the brain sees an attractive woman, and goes "nice" and then just adds anything that makes her dangerous or scary directly to how hot she is, and then your brain says she's that much hotter.
This is likely why exhibitionism and BDSM are such a turn on for a lot of people as well, as the arousal from fear of discovery or loss of control respectively contributes to a feeling of pleasure rather than anxiety.
