Title: The differences between male and female serial killers — Quartz
Headings: If male serial killers “hunt” their victims, what do female serial killers do?
If male serial killers “hunt” their victims, what do female serial killers do?
Content: Toppan’s modus operandi fits the patterns identified by researchers in a 2015 paper as typical of female serial killers. Women tend to kill acquaintances, people who surround them. They are often caregivers, and are well-educated. A new paper from the same lead author, Marissa Harrison, associate psychology professor at Penn State Harrisburg, argues that these differences can be explained through evolutionary psychology—a controversial field that contends that human brains were hardwired by the way our ancestors lived in the prehistoric era, and still show signs of those deeply ingrained behaviors. Male serial killers, according to the researchers’ theory, are “hunters,” who follow their prey as they did in nomadic communities. Female serial killers, meanwhile, are “gatherers,” fitting in with their role in these societies, according to the article published in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. The paper clearly shows that, for the most part, men and women serial murderers kill differently. And it offers one interesting theory about why that is. But it’s also just that—a theory, and one that offers a window into some of evolutionary psychology’s limitations. Using media reports going back to 1856, the researchers compared 55 male and 55 female serial killers in the United States on everything from the age of their victims to their education levels.