This study investigated whether watching crime related television shows affected accuracy of psychological profiles for a sexual homicide offender. The television shows in the study were a fiction drama with a profiling element, a fiction drama without a profiling element, a nonfiction show with a profiling element, a nonfiction show without a profiling element, and a fiction drama with no crime element at all. Participants were 290 college students who watched a television show and then profiled a sexual homicide offender. High self-exposure to crime related television shows and experimental exposure to profiling related television shows were associated with greater accuracy for profiling certain aspects of the offender and/or offense. In addition, gender interacted with crime show viewing for certain types of profile accuracy.

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