Fairfax, VA, USA. New research in the inaugural issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science (SPSS) provides a factual baseline on the heightened preference women show for true crime books.

The true crime genre of nonfiction books is based on gruesome tales that address topics such as rape and murder.

It is a common popular assumption that men, as the more aggressive sex, would be most likely to find such gory topics more interesting, but the expressed interest of women exceeds that of men.

• For example, by understanding why an individual decides to kill, a woman can learn the warning signs to watch for in a jealous lover or stranger.
  
  
• By learning escape tips women learn survival strategies they can use if actually kidnapped or held captive.

The researchers conclude it is possible that reading these books may actually increase the very fear that drives women toward them in the first place.

• In other words, a vicious cycle may be occurring: A woman fears becoming the victim of a crime so she turns to true crime books in a possible effort to learn strategies and techniques to prevent becoming murdered.
  
  
• However, with each true crime book she reads, this woman learns about another murderer and his victims, thereby increasing her awareness and fear of crime.

"It is not possible to state with certainty from these studies whether or not this vicious cycle occurs," write authors Amanda M. Vicary and R. Chris Fraley.

"But we do know that women, compared to men, have a heightened fear of crime despite the fact that they are less likely to become a victim."

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TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.

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