University of Twente Student Theses
Crime Stories Unveiled : How True Crime Podcasts Shape Public Perception of Criminality and the Justice System
Gehring, Joel (2025) Crime Stories Unveiled : How True Crime Podcasts Shape Public Perception of Criminality and the Justice System.
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| Abstract: | True crime media is a largely growing genre of entertainment media, reporting cases of violent crimes and police work. One of these media formats is true crime media podcasts, which is a growing subgenre of true crime entertainment. Due to the sensationalist nature of true crime journalism and documentation, individuals might be exposed to narrations of extreme cruelty and violence. Therefore, this study focuses on the potential effects of true crime podcasts on the psychological factors of punitiveness, agreement levels with the legal system, perceived crime rates and fear levels. A cross-sectional study was conducted consisting of 114 participants filling out a survey on their frequency of true crime podcast consumption and individual perception of crime, crime prevalence and opinion on the legal system. A Person correlation analysis was conducted to assess relationships between consumption frequency and psychological factors. Contrary to expectations, no significant effects of consumption frequency on psychological outcomes were found. These findings challenge the narrative that true crime podcasts influence individual perceptions regarding crime prevalence, fear of crime and perception of justice. While this suggests that there may be limited societal impacts of true crime podcasts compared to other media, this study emphasizes the potential usefulness of true crime podcasts in shaping perception, providing education and journalistic value without the concern of adverse psychological impacts. Future research should focus on longitudinal designs and implement podcast-specific measures and scales finally extending the usefulness of podcasts as an educational medium without risk of distortion. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/104984 |
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