a forensico psychiatrist has revealed four reasons why women are more interested in true crime than men.
Dr. Sohom Das is a forensic psychiatrist, Londonwho also runs a YouTube channel called A psychologist for sore mindswhere he shares content about crime, mental health conditions and other topics.
In a new clip, he revealed that there seems to be a fairly significant disparity in interest in this type of content between both sexes.
In fact, he noted that “some statistics have shown that women are 80 percent more likely than men to consume content about true crimes, documentary shows, etc.”
1. Vulnerability and security
Explaining why vulnerability and safety are the number one reason on his list, Dr Das said: ‘Statistically, women are more likely to experience violence and harassment than men.
“So sometimes they engage in these true crime stories, particularly those involving female victims, as a way of conceptualizing, understanding and dealing with these threats,” he said.
Dr. Das added that they can also watch this content “to learn coping mechanisms and get a sense of preparedness.”
2. Empathy and emotional connections
According to the expert, another reason why they feel more attracted to this content than men is “related to empathy and emotional connections.”
He explained: “Studies have shown (…) that women generally score higher on trait empathy than men on the same types of measures.”
According to Dr Das, true crime narratives “often delve into deeply emotional experiences of victims and also their families” and therefore the more empathetic nature of women generally means that this content resonates more deeply with they.
3. Social expectations and gender roles
Dr Sohom Das (pictured) is a forensic psychiatrist from London who also runs a YouTube channel called A Psych for Sore Minds.
“Traditionally,” Dr. Das explained in the video, “women tend to be socialized to be more loving and affectionate than men, who are generally conditioned to be (more) stoic, emotionally distant, and sometimes even aggressive.” in some cultures.
She added that these gender roles “influence how each gender interacts with emotionally charged material and content, such as true crimes.”
4. Representation
Describing his fourth reason as more “subtle” than the others, Dr Das said it was about representation in gender.
He explained: “We all know that true crime, as a genre, features more and more female protagonists in terms of investigators and heroes.
‘And it’s no secret that women are much more likely to be victims of assault and crime. But I actually think the opposite is also happening. So I think there is a little more representation of female perpetrators, although they commit less violence.”
The psychiatrist added that it is often the case that truer crimes involve men, content about women is “more interesting and has a more unique angle.”
“I think people in general gravitate toward (…) what has a reflection of them,” he explained.
“So if there are more women involved in true crime, they are more likely to become even more interested in it.”
Dr. Sohom Das can be found at Twitter, instagramand tiktokas well as YouTube.
