What makes evil characters like the Joker or Lord Voldemort more interesting and likeable? Researchers have found that people may find fictional villains surprisingly likeable when they share similarities with the viewer or reader.
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, indicated one reason for this shift is that fiction acts as a cognitive safety net, allowing us to identify with villainous characters without tainting our self-image.
"Our research suggests that stories and fictional worlds can offer a 'safe haven' for comparison to our darker selves. When people feel safe, they are more interested in comparisons to negative characters that are similar to themselves in other respects," said study lead author Rebecca Krause from Northwestern University in the US.
"For example, people who see themselves as tricky and chaotic may feel especially drawn to the character of The Joker in the Batman movies, while a person who shares Lord Voldemort's intellect and ambition may feel more drawn to that character in the Harry Potter series," Krause added.
To test this idea, the researchers analysed data from the website CharacTour, an online, character-focused entertainment platform that had approximately 232,500 registered users at the time of analysis.
One of the site's features allows users to take a personality quiz and see their similarity to different characters who had been coded as either villainous or not.
Villains included characters such as Maleficent, The Joker, and Darth Vader. Nonvillains included Sherlock Holmes, Joey Tribbiani, and Yoda.
The anonymous data from these quizzes allowed the researchers to test whether people were attracted toward or repulsed by similar villains, using nonvillains as a baseline.
Not surprisingly, people were drawn to nonvillains as their similarity increased. However, the results further suggested that users were most drawn to villains who share similarities with them.
The researchers believe that similarities to story villains do not threaten the self in the way real-life villains would.
"Given the common finding that people are uncomfortable with and tend to avoid people who are similar to them and bad in some way, the fact that people actually prefer similar villains over dissimilar villains was surprising to us," said study co-author Derek Rucker.
The current data do not identify which behaviours or characteristics the participants found attractive.
Further research is needed to explore the psychological pull of villains and whether people are drawn toward similar villains in fiction because people look for chances to explore their own personal dark side.
"Perhaps fiction provides a way to engage with the dark aspects of your personality without making you question whether you are a good person in general," concluded Krause.
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