Turns Out, Your Obsession With True Crime & Celebrity Killers Might Be... Evolutionary

Flipping through television or any streaming service will likely tell you one thing: People love true crime and infamous killers. More, they love the notoriety that comes along with specific cases, like the Menendez brothers or Jodi Arias — and podcasters, producers, and media are not afraid to capitalize. A 2024 study found that 84% of the U.S. population ages 13 and up are true crime consumers, meaning they watch or listen to true crime through any medium.

Admittedly, I'm not immune and can tell you pretty much every published detail of the JonBenét Ramsey case. Any new show, interview, or clip will stop me in my scroll, and even if it's seemingly old details presented in a new way, I'll watch and listen. I can talk at length about the case with friends; trust me, they all have their own theories, too.

But if so many of us are interested, is true crime and celebrity killers a normal curiosity, or does this fascination say something sinister about us as a society?

Dr. Shannon Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Orange County, California, tells Scary Mommy that the reason behind cultural interest in celebrity killers and high-profile crime is "pretty straightforward" — at least from a psychological and evolutionary standpoint.

"Our brains evolved to prioritize attention to danger and threat, because doing so helped our ancestors survive," Curry tells Scary Mommy. "If you were especially curious about how someone got crushed by a boulder, you were more likely to remember the warning signs, avoid similar risks, and live long enough to pass on your genes."

Psychologically, our heightened sensitivity to threat is part of what is known as negativity bias, or our tendency to notice, remember, and be affected by negative information more than positive or neutral stimuli.

"It's a deeply ingrained survival mechanism," Curry says. "And while we may no longer need to scan the environment for saber-toothed cats, our brains still flag anything involving harm, danger, or death as 'important' to pay attention to."

OK, so are we obsessed with true crime, horror, and high-profile killers because it's ingrained in our DNA? Well, kind of.

Curry explains that these stories often check every evolutionary box: danger, unpredictability, social betrayal, and sometimes even taboo, and when you add the layer of celebrity — people who already hold our attention — you get a "kind of psychological superstimulus."

"We're drawn in not because we condone the violence or lack empathy for the victims, but because our brains are wired to prioritize and remember information about threats, especially when the context involves power, social dynamics, or moral transgressions," she says.

Bottom line: Our curiosity about the macabre doesn't mean we're cold or voyeuristic.

"It just means our brains are still doing the job they were built to do: trying to make sense of the world and protect us from harm," Curry says. "Even if that harm comes in the form of a headline instead of a falling rock."