Expert Reveals Biological Reason We’re Obsessed With True Crime Shows

According to an expert on unhealthy curiosity, watching real crime shows can help you prepare if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Coltan Scrivner, a Recreational Fear Lab researcher and expert in unhealthy curiosity, believes there’s almost a major reason people are endlessly fascinated by true crime content.

The unhealthy curiosity about dangerous people likely began around 300,000 years ago, when people started using language and showing active aggression instead of reactive aggression, Scrivner says.

“Now this presents a problem for people, because with preemptive aggression it is difficult to tell who is plotting to harm you,” says Scrivner. “So it put a selection pressure on our minds to learn how to look for information about people who are potentially dangerous.

“A real crime may have a teaching component, or at least a supposed teaching component. We think we are more prepared for such situations. So if this dangerous situation happens, you will feel a little more prepared and know what you should or shouldn’t do.”

This claim is supported by research data collected by OnePoll. A new survey of 2,000 true crime fans found that 76% believe that consuming true crime content helps them avoid similar situations happening to them.

On average, a respondent watches five true crime programs each month, with 75% saying they watch the latest program the moment it airs, and 71% usually binge watching everything in one sitting.

The survey also showed that 44% of respondents admitted that they have a “favorite” serial killer, and 67% would like to be able to communicate with him.

More than seven in ten (71%) of those surveyed also admit that they feel less trustworthy from other people due to the fact that they consume a lot of criminal content.

But can watching too much violent crime content make you more likely to commit a violent crime? Scrivener sees no connection.

“So there’s a difference between being desensitized to watching graphic content on TV and agreeing to the graphic content that’s happening around you. A perfect example of this would be the study of violent video games over the past 20 years,” continued Scrivner. “It was very important because people were concerned that as video games became more realistic and violence became more realistic, children in particular were becoming more violent.

“But at this point the research is pretty clear that violent video games don’t make kids more violent, I’d be pretty sure the same is true for something like true crime where watching real crime doesn’t make you less empathetic.” towards the victims or more empathetic towards the killer or something like that. This may have some psychological consequences, but it is very unlikely that they will have any consequences in this direction.