True crime is everywhere. It fills podcast charts, dominates streaming platforms, and takes over social media feeds. But the real question that psychologists keep circling back to is a simple one: why does a genre built on murder, deception, and suffering feel so impossible to walk away from? The answers, it turns out, go deep into human nature, evolutionary instinct, and the way our brains process fear.
A Genre With an Enormous Audience
An astonishing 84% of the U.S. population aged 13 and up are true crime consumers, meaning they watch or listen to true crime documentaries, podcasts, or series, according to a 2024 study from Edison Research. That is not a niche hobby anymore – it is a cultural phenomenon. True crime ranks as the fifth most popular podcast genre in the United States, and approximately 42 million Americans aged 18 and older consumed a true crime podcast in the last month alone.
There are now over 23,000 podcasts listed in the true crime category on Podchaser as of March 2024. The format has exploded partly because of how intimate and accessible it feels. True crime fans spend about seven hours per week with podcasts, compared to six hours for other podcast listeners – and multiplied across 42 million listeners, that difference adds up fast. The top reasons true crime podcast listeners cite for their interest are the psychology behind criminal events (49%), the forensic science behind criminal events (48%), and the suspense of the stories.
Morbid Curiosity and the Need to Understand Danger
The success of the true crime media genre reflects humanity’s avid curiosity about violence, deviance, and murder, yet psychological research on this phenomenon is still developing. Researchers increasingly believe the draw is not simply a love of gore. Curiosity for violence did not predict true crime interest in key studies, which matches the idea that true crime consumption may not be primarily driven by a sensationalist interest in violence and suffering, but by the desire to prepare for dangerous social situations.
Research interest in morbid curiosity covers exposure to various negative content, and a key study by Oosterwijk (2017) showed that people chose engagement with intense negative social images over more graphic but neutral ones, underlining that people are especially curious about dangers, risks, and horrors originating from other humans. This directly aligns with the fascination with true crime. Worth noting, current theories on morbid curiosity do not interpret this as enjoyment of the suffering of others. Instead, it is the brain doing what it was built to do – learning from real threats.
Why Women Are Drawn to True Crime More Than Men
A 2024 YouGov poll found that women (61%) were more likely to watch true crime content than men (52%). This gap is especially visible in podcasting. A 2023 Pew Research study found that women are almost twice as likely as men to regularly consume true crime podcasts, at a rate of 44% versus 23%, and other reports estimate that as many as 80% of true crime listeners could be women. The reasons behind this go beyond simple preference.
One theory suggests that female true crime consumption is driven by defensive vigilance, as women seek information and knowledge about anxiety-eliciting, dangerous situations to better anticipate and prevent real-life dangers. Prominent research suggests that women’s perceived victimization risks and the desire to gain knowledge for preventing attacks in real life may explain their fascination with true crime. For women, who statistically face a higher risk of violent crimes, true crime media can serve as a form of psychological rehearsal – by hearing others’ stories, they gain a sense of control, feeling better equipped to recognize warning signs or respond to risk. This is not fear-mongering, but a form of threat management.
The Brain’s Response: Fear, Dopamine, and the Illusion of Safety
Professor of sociology and criminology Scott Bonn told Psychology Today that “the public is drawn to these stories because they trigger the most basic and powerful emotion in all of us: fear.” That fear response is not an accident – it is by design. As Bonn explained, “serial killers allow us to experience fear and horror in a controlled environment, where the threat is exciting but not real.” The distinction between real danger and perceived danger is what makes true crime feel thrilling rather than traumatic.
True crime stories allow the listener, watcher, or reader to experience frightening emotions without truly embodying them, and that creates safety. When we read about or watch these stories, we experience a rush of adrenaline as we imagine being in the situation – and when we can experience that physiological reaction while knowing we’re safe, we get the chance to subconsciously process those deep fears. Engagement with frightening content may also provide training opportunities for emotion regulation in the face of aversive stimuli, leading to more resilient responding in daily life.
The Social Dimension: Community, Connection, and Justice
In a study by Boston University media researcher Kathryn D. Coduto, 280 adults were asked about their social media use and online engagement with crime stories. She found that true crime followers often get drawn into cases, compulsively using and posting on social media and developing one-sided relationships with the characters. This behavior is not always unhealthy – it reflects a genuine human need for shared experience. Online hubs like Reddit’s r/TrueCrime, with 3 million members, and TikTok’s #TrueCrimeTok, with 30 billion views, buzz with debates, memes, and virtual watch parties.
True crime has a strong social dimension. Communities formed around true crime provide spaces for people to share their own stories, feel seen, and connect with others who understand – transforming true crime from mere entertainment into a tool for coping, connection, and collective healing. True crime podcast listeners are also 3.6 times more likely to donate money to a specific cause and 3.3 times more likely to donate money directly to victims and their loved ones compared to those who don’t listen to these types of podcasts. The desire for justice, it turns out, is not passive.
When the Obsession Goes Too Far: The Mental Health Risk
Research finds that nearly 50% of Americans say true crime content has made them more anxious. Even more – 61% – said it has made them more suspicious of others, while 78% said it has made them more conscious of their surroundings than before. There is a real line between healthy curiosity and overconsumption. According to psychology, overconsumption of true crime can affect mental health by giving people an exaggerated sense of how common violent crime is, and of the likelihood of being a victim. Their fear can then become disproportionate to their actual risk, and too much exposure can cause stress, anxiety, nightmares, and paranoia.
Cleveland Clinic psychologist Chivonna Childs notes that some people who watch too much of these shows can suffer from hypervigilance, where they see danger lurking around every corner, or a fear of socialization, where they don’t want to leave the house. However, research published in the British Journal of Psychology found that total true crime consumption was not significantly associated with overall negative affectivity or mental health problems, showing only very weak correlations with stress and anxiety. The key, most experts agree, is moderation. A 2024 YouGov poll found that over 60% of U.S. adults believed creators should get consent from victims and their families before producing content – a sign that audiences are becoming more thoughtful, not just more obsessed.
