Young women who watch TikTok videos ‘romanticising’ criminals could be sexually attracted to dangerous villains in real life, according to claims made in a recent study.
Findings from UK and US researchers in Deviant Behaviour published by Taylor and Francis found a link between hybristophilia – a bizarre phenomenon describing individuals who lust after people that commit criminal acts – and the behaviour of those using the social media app.
As part of the study, researchers analysed 66 videos and 91 comments found on TikTok between 2020 and 2024 that ‘romanticised’ both real and fictional criminals, including serial killer Ted Bundy and Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley) from Netflix’s YOU series.
They described the ‘Halo Effect’, which found that TikTok users were more likely to alter their perception of a criminal based on their physical attributes and if they found them sexually attractive.
It even suggested that some young women could see the likes of mass murderers and serial killers as ‘misunderstood’ due to their good looks – and had sexual fantasies about being included in their crimes.
The study explained: ‘Attractive offenders were more likely to be described as “innocent” or “misunderstood” and comments often suggested leniency or disbelief in guilt solely based on appearance.’
It found 7.6 per cent of participants, who were all born on or after 1997, had admitted to having sexual fantasies about ‘conventionally attractive’ offenders like Ted Bundy, with the journal referencing a comment by one person who wrote: ‘Make me sleep for eternity’.
Another remarked: ‘I once said he could’ve drugged me and put me in his trunk with no struggle… I would’ve done anything for him willingly’.
The study by the US social deviance journal looked at how women engaged with crime content readily available on TikTok, and how it might foster a higher risk of hybristophilia in the young women who use such platforms.
Those surveyed were all born on or after 1997 – meaning that the survey provided interesting insights into the social media habits of women in Generation Z.
Other themes and ideas listed in the study included ‘Sympathy’, ‘I Can Fix Him’ and ‘Victim Fantasy’.
The second part of the study surveyed 95 women between the ages of 18 and 27 who identified as ‘female’, who were attracted to men and who used TikTok regularly.
The young women were asked a set of questions about their attitudes towards TikTok content that the study interpreted as ‘glamorousing’ or ‘romanticising’ real life and fictional criminals.
Researchers then used a ’20-item Hybristophilia Scale’ to rank the participants’ adherence to the phenomenon,
During this section, they were asked to respond to statements such as: ‘true love can heal an offender’s traumatized inner child’; ‘I tend to associate real offenders with the actors who portray them’; and ‘I sometimes fantasize about engaging in criminal activity with an offender’.
The women were encouraged to express themselves using only the Likert scale: 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
According to the study, findings indicated that young women who actively engaged with videos of romanticised villains while scrolling on TikTok were likely to show higher levels of hybristophilia.
‘These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the influence of digital content on young women’s perceptions of offenders, addressing the influence of power dynamics associated with Machiavellianism and psychopathy,’ it added.
The Daily Mail has reached out to TikTok for comment.
In 2023, Dr Sohom Das, a forensic psychiatrist based in London, attempted to analyse why some women showed traits of hybristophilia and why some ‘fell in love with murderers’.
‘I think it’s very fair to say that some of these women do this because they crave attention or fame. In extreme cases, this is a phenomenon called hybristophilia, otherwise known as Bonnie and Clyde syndrome’ he explained.
Dr Das pointed out that this isn’t a phenomenon limited to any particular social economic class, as it has afflicted all kinds of women (it has also been documented in men, but to a much lesser extent).
He continued: ‘I’ve heard there are examples of educated women with careers, including lawyers and barristers, who fell for or married killers who will either be sentenced to death or will never be released’.
The psychiatrist went on to explain that in his opinion, much of this is ‘connected to the celebrity worship, and some women have done this very overtly’.
‘So they have clearly hoped to share some of the media spotlight or to get a book deal or a movie deal afterwards’ he added. ‘And this is all kind of psychologically linked, in my opinion, to conflating being famous and being infamous.
‘And I think that’s a relatively recent phenomenon, something that we’ve seen grow hugely in front of our eyes for the last couple of decades… we see it in reality TV stars, they often become famous just for the sake of fame. And I think that the public feed this and we’re partly to blame’.
Finally, he touched upon the character traits of the serial killers themselves, and how they are attractive to women.
‘I think it’s fair to say that many of them are psychopaths and narcissists, and those groups of people often attract women because they have the ability to be charismatic and to charm vulnerable people who are susceptible to this kind of manipulation’ he explained.
‘Narcissists are very grandiose, and they’re very entitled to things like sex and relationships.
‘Psychopaths are the same so they have this inflated self esteem, but they’re also very charming and they’re calculating and they’re quite devious, so they’re very good at knowing what to say to make the women feel special, to feel loved to feel privileged, to feel that they’re part of like, some sort of special bond’.
