Serial murder and other acts of extreme violence are popular themes in U.S. news and entertainment media, yet few empirical studies have attempted to explain what draws consumers to these themes. Drawing on literature in mass media and violence studies, we developed an experiment to examine characteristics of serial murder media (i.e., victims' gender and number killed) and characteristics of would-be viewers (i.e., gender and age group) that may contribute to higher levels of public interest in this type of media. We developed four versions of a film synopsis purporting to be a biographical account of a notorious serial killer, manipulating only the number and gender of the purported victims. Nearly 700 U.S. adults participated in the experiment, for which each was asked to read one of the four randomly assigned versions of the film synopsis and then answer three items designed to measure subjects' level of interest in the film. Results indicate two significant main effects for subject gender and subject age, as well as two significant interaction effects that reveal links between all four independent variables. Findings overall are not only consistent with previous literature but also offer unique insights related to gender role socialization, gendered and age-related patterns in violent crime victimization, and the distinction between exposure to and enjoyment of media violence.
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