Introducing the psychology of our relationships with fictional villains

Introduction and guidance

Introduction

This free course explores psychological theory and research on the relationships we form with fictional characters. Throughout the course you will hear from leading crime writers, who will talk about how they create and write about their characters. The course involves interactive components designed for you to discover something about your own thinking and behaviour. You will learn about why fictional villains might be attractive to us, in a way that real villains are not. You will also learn about how the relationships we form with fictional characters can influence our psychological engagement with the real world around us.

This free course lasts 12 hours, with 4 weeks. You can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to complete a further week.

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand how crime writers approach creating and developing villainous fictional characters
• understand what parasocial relationships are, and why we might form them with people we read about
• understand how engagement with fictional characters can affect our own sense of self
• understand how our relationship with fictional characters can, in turn, alter our relationships with people in the real world.

Throughout the course you will hear from leading crime writers – Lin Anderson, Gordon Brown, Val McDermid, Sir Ian Rankin and Craig Robertson – who will talk about how they create and write about their characters.

The opportunity to work with these authors arose due to their participation at the Bloody Scotland festival.