There’s a biological reason why we’re obsessed with true crime shows: expert

This story version has been formatted as an on-air script for broadcast outlets. See the original research story here.

VO/SOTS:

{***ANCHOR***}

DO YOU BINGE WATCH THE NEWEST TRUE CRIME SERIES AS SOON AS IT HITS STREAMING SERVICES? IF YOU SAID YES, YOU’RE NOT ALONE…

{***VO***}

A NEW SURVEY OF 2,000 TRUE CRIME FANS BY ONEPOLL REVEALS 71% TYPICALLY CONSUME THE ENTIRE SERIES IN ONE SITTING.

THAT MAY BE DUE TO THE FACT THAT 73% CONSIDER THEMSELVES “MORBIDLY CURIOUS.”

COLTAN SCRIVNER, A RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT RECREATIONAL FEAR LAB, SAYS MORBID LIKELY BEGAN SOME 300,000 YEARS AGO AS A DEFENSE TACTIC.

WHILE OUR OPTIONS HAVE CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE THEN, THE MOTIVATION BEHIND OUR INTEREST IN TRUE CRIME STORIES REMAINS THE SAME TODAY. 

IN FACT, 76% BELIEVE CONSUMING TRUE CRIME CONTENT TEACHES THEM HOW TO AVOID FALLING VICTIM TO SERIAL KILLERS.

{***KEY***}

Coltan Scrivner, PhD/Research Scientist, Recreational Fear Lab

{***SOTS***}

{TRT :26}

:32 COLTAN SCRIVNER: “Today you can sit at home and watch a true crime documentary about a murder that happened across the world. It doesn’t affect anyone you know and is unlikely to affect you, but they feel more immediate to us because it’s right in front of us, right? They’re either on our phone or on our television. And so in some ways it kind of tricks our brain into thinking that this is important information that we should gather.” :59

{TRT: 22}

1:01 COLTAN SCRIVNER: “Certainly the rise of globalized media has made true crime super popular because that’s the kind of information we seek out and prioritize anyway. The problem now is that it’s so readily available that it’s hard to outcompete that kind of threatening information.” 1:25

{***CON’T VO***}

FEAR ISN’T THE ONLY FACTOR AT PLAY HERE THOUGH. THE ONEPOLL STUDY ALSO FOUND 44% OF TRUE CRIME FANS HAVE A FAVORITE SERIAL KILLER AND 40% HAVE BEEN ATTRACTED TO ONE.

PKG:

{***ANCHOR***}

IT’S NO SECRET AMERICANS LOVE TRUE CRIME. 

BUT DID YOU KNOW “MORBID CURIOSITY” ACTUALLY BEGAN AS A DEFENSE MECHANISM HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO?

A “FEAR EXPERT” EXPLAINS HOW THAT ADAPTATION IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OF TRUE CRIME CONTENT TODAY. 

{***KEYS***}

:00 – THE BIOLOGY BEHIND WHY WE LOVE TRUE CRIME

:27 – Coltan Scrivner PhD/Research Scientist, Recreational Fear Lab

{***PKG***}

{TRT: 1:22}

<COLTAN SCRIVNER: “What are these dangerous people like? And this is sort of the basis for our interest in true crime.”>

COLTAN SCRIVNER IS A RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT RECREATIONAL FEAR LAB. HE STUDIES WHY PEOPLE SEEK OUT EXPERIENCES THAT SCARE, DISGUST OR HORRIFY THEM.

SCRIVNER SAYS MORBID CURIOSITY LIKELY BEGAN SOME 300,000 YEARS AGO WHEN HUMANS BEGAN USING LANGUAGE.

THAT LED TO A RISE IN PROACTIVE AGGRESSION OVER REACTIVE AGGRESSION. 

<COLTAN SCRIVNER: “Now this presents a problem for people because with proactive aggression it’s hard to tell who is plotting to harm you. So this put a selection pressure on our minds to learn to seek out information about people who are potentially dangerous.”>

A ONEPOLL SURVEY OF 2,000 AMERICANS WHO CONSUME TRUE CRIME CONTENT FOUND 76% BELIEVE IT TEACHES THEM HOW TO AVOID FALLING VICTIM TO SERIAL KILLERS.

<COLTAN SCRIVNER: “True crime can have a learning component to it or at least a perceived learning component. So if this dangerous situation were to occur you feel a little more prepared knowing what you should or shouldn’t do.”>

BUT FEAR ISN’T THE ONLY MOTIVATING  FACTOR.

IN FACT, 44% SAY THEY HAVE A FAVORITE SERIAL KILLER AND 40% ADMIT THEY’VE BEEN ATTRACTED TO ONE.

<COLTAN SCRIVNER: “You know there’s a handful of serial killers that were conventionally attractive. And I think that you know being physically attracted to them is not the same as being affectionately attracted to them.”>

{***TAG***}

DESPITE IT BEING A POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT GENRE, SCRIVNER SAYS THERE HAVEN’T BEEN MANY STUDIES ON HOW TRUE CRIME CONTENT IMPACTS PEOPLE. BUT, HE HOPES THE RECENT BOOM IN INTEREST CHANGES THAT.