By: Maya Vossen-Nelson

In 2024, crime podcasts consistently occupied spots in both Apple Podcasts and Spotify’s Top Charts and IMDb announced that over 58 new TV documentary series were released in 2024.

On the surface, individuals who enjoy crime podcasts, crime TV and crime novels seem like sadists; they seek out media recalling the pain and suffering of others. But there is actually a deeper psychological component.

Individuals are attracted to tragedy because it is human nature to be highly attuned to threatening behavior. Humans want to discover the patterns, causes and outcomes of harmful situations to protect themselves and loved ones. This is a survival instinct ingrained in the human psyche since before homo sapiens emerged.

This draw is similar to the desire to know what is happening when an ambulance goes by or being unable to look away from a highway crash. Most people don’t wish harm on others, so why has an entire industry been built on this fascination?

Although the TV is relatively new, this question has puzzled philosophers for centuries. Aristotle first explored this topic and observed that “[W]e enjoy looking at the most exact portrayals of things whose actual sight is painful to us”. A Stanford Philosophy article reflects on Aristotle’s quote and reasons that there is “pleasure as arising from the knowledge acquired in viewing such representations”.

This can be further explained by brain research that shows human brains experience danger and passion in strikingly similar ways: both causing arousal, both releasing dopamine. Dopamine is often described as the brain’s ”pleasure chemical” and is responsible for actions relating to cognition and reward. Dopamine can be released during pleasurable activities (such as eating and social interaction), during the anticipation of rewards, foreseeing favorable outcomes and while achieving goals. The dopamine released while watching crime TV is produced from anticipation and from experiencing intense emotions regardless of if it is repulsion or fascination.

Studies show that women are more likely than men to seek out content that analyzes the killer’s motive, contains information on how victims escaped and what actions increase the risk of becoming a target for killers.

Female fascination with crimes is not because they are more likely to become murderers, it is actually quite the opposite. Women make up fewer than 20% of murders, are approximately 60% more likely to be victims of kidnapping and 90% more likely than men to be victims of rape.

So, the next time you see someone watching a crime documentary don’t be so quick to judge.