I can fix him: How TikTok shapes young women’s attraction to criminals
A new study published in Deviant Behavior uncovers a disquieting online trend: young women’s growing fascination with criminals. The research, Gen Z Hybristophilia, explores how social media, particularly TikTok, romanticizes crime and influences women’s sexual attraction toward offenders, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Hybristophilia, defined as sexual attraction to those who commit crimes, is not new. But the study shows that among Gen Z women, those born between 1997 and 2012, the phenomenon has found fertile ground on TikTok.
Researchers from the University of Huddersfield, Stockton University, and Purdue University examined 66 videos and 91 comments romanticizing real and fictional criminals. They found that physical attractiveness, emotional storytelling, and humor helped normalize and even glamorize criminal behavior.
“Approximately 38% of the comments exhibited in the collected videos had characteristics consistent with Hybristophilia expression. Majority of the content collected contained and referred to real life cases and non-fictional offenders,” reads the study.
The “halo effect” emerged as a recurring theme: attractive offenders such as Ted Bundy or Cameron Herrin were often described as “innocent” or “misunderstood.” In many cases, users openly minimized their crimes, for example, Herrin, convicted of vehicular homicide, was defended simply because “he is so cute.” Similar attitudes extended to fictional characters like Joe Goldberg from You or Dexter Morgan from Dexter, whose manipulative and violent behavior was recast as loyalty or passion.
The study highlights that women’s engagement with this kind of content significantly predicts higher hybristophilia scores. Participants who frequently watched or liked videos romanticizing criminals reported stronger attraction to offenders than those who avoided such material. However, it was not mere exposure that mattered, active engagement played a key role in reinforcing attraction.
The researchers also found a strong correlation between hybristophilia and two “dark personality traits”: Machiavellianism and psychopathy. These traits, linked to manipulation, dominance, and emotional detachment, may predispose some women to seek the thrill, control, or danger associated with deviant partners.
Empathy, on the other hand, did not predict hybristophilia, challenging the idea that such women are merely “too compassionate” toward offenders.
TikTok’s format amplifies the appeal of criminality through music, editing, and irony. Many videos use slow motion, romantic soundtracks, and captions like “he’d never hurt me,” creating an aesthetic that blends danger with desire. Even when framed as jokes, these portrayals often trivialize violence and blur the line between fantasy and reality.
The researchers identified several recurring fantasies among users: the belief that love can “fix” an offender, the idea of being “protected” by a dangerous man, and in some cases, sexual fantasies about being victimized.
About 10% of surveyed women admitted to fantasizing about being kidnapped or harmed by an attractive criminal. The study interprets these fantasies as complex expressions of control, trauma, and social conditioning rather than literal desires for violence.
Many participants claimed they viewed hybristophilic content as harmless entertainment or dark humor. Yet, the authors warn that such irony can normalize deviant behavior, especially among impressionable audiences. The algorithmic structure of TikTok, constantly recommending similar content, creates an echo chamber where attraction to criminals can be reinforced and desensitization to violence deepens over time.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that President Donald Trump signed an executive order clearing the way for the sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets, saying the agreement would allow Americans to use the app “with more confidence than they have in the past.”