There is a fascination with psychopaths amongst society, particularly within true crime media. Large audiences are captivated through books, podcasts, documentaries and films. The prevalence of true crime media has surged in recent years, with a significant portion of its audience obsessed with the phenomenon that is the psychopathic criminal mind, yet the question remains on why we are so obsessed with psychopaths. This article examines the psychological reasons behind this, as explained by Perchtold-Stefan et al. (2025).
Morbid Curiosity & Negative Information Seeking
Morbid curiosity is the psychological tendency to seek out information about distressing, dangerous, or disturbing events. Research suggests that people are particularly drawn to negative social information, such as violent crimes, because it helps them understand threats and prepare for potential dangers. True crime allows people to engage in this disturbing content in a controlled environment without the real-world consequences.Furthermore, true crime documentaries focus on how criminals operate, detailing their methods. People may feel inclined to watch to understand the ‘evil’ despite its unsettling nature, and divulge into the way psychopaths think.
The Dark Triad & Sensation Seeking
The dark triad refers to three personality traits: Machiavellianism, Narcissism and Psychopathy. It is suggested people with higher dark triad traits are more drawn to crime-related content. This could be due to their tendency to enjoy the thrill of violence and seek high-stimulation environments. It may be that with particular psychopaths’ people are fascinated by, they are drawn in by their charisma and ability to deceive others, as opposed to being interested in the crimes themselves. A similar appeal is seen for fictional villains.
Social Factors
The media plays a critical role in shaping the public’s fascination with psychopaths. True crime is often sensationalised storytelling, illustrating criminals as charismatic and intelligent, reinforcing curiosity. Moreover, media coverage heightens moral engagement that encourages the audience to engage with the case as detectives in the investigation, emphasising the mystery-solving aspect and the feeling of seeking justice.
Defensive Vigilance and Risk Awareness
Defensive vigilance refers to the act of seeking out information to better protect one’s self from harm. This is particularly prevalent amongst women, who make up a large percentage of true-crime consumers. Many podcasts and other platforms discussing true crime also highlight defence strategies or red flags to look out for amongst criminals, which may explain the appeal to audiences who feel at risk.
Adrenaline Rush
Finally, true crime evokes strong emotions such as fear, thrill and suspense. The arousal elicited from true crime consumption heightens attention, heart rate, the feeling of excitement, and drives people to continue to engage in crime-related media. This aligns with research on sensation seeking, where individuals will seek high-arousal experiences to experiences both a physiological and emotional rush.
Information gathered from: Perchtold-Stefan et al. (2025). Out of the Dark – Psychological Perspectives on People’s Fascination with True Crime.