I’m a forensic psychiatrist and here’s why women are more likely to binge watch true crime than men

A forensian psychiatrist has revealed four reasons why women are more interested in true crime than men.

Dr. Sohom Das is a forensian psychiatrist, out Londonwho also leads one YouTube channel called A psych for painful mindswhere he shares content about crime, mental health issues and other topics.

In a new clip, he revealed that there seems to be a pretty big disparity in interest in this type of content between the two genders.

He even noted that “some statistics have shown that women are 80 percent more likely to consume true crime content, documentary shows, etc. than men.”

1. Vulnerability and security

Dr. Explaining why vulnerability and safety are the top reasons on his list, Das said, “Women are statistically more likely to experience violence and harassment than men.

“So sometimes they engage with these true crime stories, especially those involving female victims, as a way to conceptualize and understand and grapple with these threats,” he said.

Dr. Das added that they can also watch this content “to learn coping mechanisms and feel prepared.”

2. Empathy and emotional connections

According to the expert, another reason why people are more attracted to this content than men is “related to empathy and emotional connections.”

He explained: ‘Studies have shown this […] that women generally score higher on empathetic qualities than men on the same types of measures.’

According to Dr. Das true crime stories “often delve into deeply emotional experiences of the victims and also their families,” and therefore the more empathetic nature of women generally means that this content resonates more deeply with them.

3. Social expectations and gender roles

“Traditional,” explained Dr. Das in the video, ‘women are often socialized to be more nurturing and nurturing than men, who are typically conditioned to [more] stoic, emotionally distant, sometimes even aggressive in some cultures.’

He added that these gender roles “affect the way each gender interacts with emotionally charged material and content such as true crime.”

4. Representation

Dr. Das described his fourth reason as “more subtle” than the others, saying it was about representation in the genre.

He explained: “We all know that true crime as a genre is increasingly featuring female protagonists in the sense of investigators and heroes.

‘And it is no secret that women are much more likely to be victims of aggression and crime. But I actually think the opposite also happens. So I think there is a little more representation of female perpetrators, even though they commit less violence.’

The psychiatrist added that it is often the case that true crime is more about men, and that the content about women is “more interesting and engaging.” [has] a more unique angle’.

“I think people in general are drawn to it […] which is a reflection of it,” he explained.

“So if there are more women involved in true crime, they’re even more likely to be interested in it.”

Dr. Sohom Das can be found at Tweet, InstagramAnd TikTokas well as YouTube.