Drawn to Grisly Movies? This Psychologist Knows Why. 89%
4/29/2026, 12:02:55 PM
Topics: Human Behavior, Entertainment
BS Summary: This article contains 16 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Negativity Bias, and Straw Man, with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 38% saturation with 68 hits. Analysis detected 526 faulty-reasoning hits from 179 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 83.2% and a BS Rank of 89% (1,868 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 88.90% of the article peer group.
That’s contrary to what some people think is just common sense: that if you like watching horror movies, or play violent video games, or if you’re interested in seeing someone get injured — like in a car crash or a football game — then you must like the violence itself.
Not necessarily, says Scrivner.
It may actually have a lot to do with exploring danger from a place of safety — so you, too, don’t fall victim to the serial killer on TV or the monster in the basement.
Coltan Scrivner joins us to talk about why it’s not so bad to be the weirdo in your friend group who’s seen all the “Saw” movies.
And if you’re not sure whether that person is you, you can take Scrivner’s test to find out.
GUEST –
Coltan Scrivner | He’s an author and a psychologist at Arizona State University.
His most recent book is “Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away.”
[Amazon|Bookshop]
Airdate: Apr. 30 and May 2, 2026
Analysis
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