Dr. Jameca CooperForensic Psychology Consultant, Emergence Psychological Services · Board Certified Counseling Psychologist and Forensic Psychology Consultant

What most true crime fans misunderstand about behavior #truecrime #humanbehavior #psychology

25 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief commentary, Dr. Jameca Cooper cautions true‑crime enthusiasts against over‑relying on superficial body‑language cues—such as fidgeting, lack of eye contact, or restlessness—to identify serial killers or other dangerous individuals. She explains that these behaviors can stem from a range of benign or unrelated factors, including drug use, ordinary nervousness, or medical conditions. Cooper also notes that genuine psychotic or dangerous behavior often lacks obvious warning signs, and the few true indicators are frequently missed by observers. The overall message is a call for viewers to avoid simplistic interpretations of behavior presented in true‑crime media.

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For all you true crime TV watching people, remember this: people are always telling you on these shows to look at the body language, eye contact. They're fidgeting, they're restless, they're this. This means they're a serial killer. It does not. Nervousness, fidgeting, restlessness can be clues of many different things. One, drug use. Two, nervousness. Three, medical issues. So. Just don't get caught up in thinking that these things mean this or this. Many times when we look at psychotic behavior, there could be not very many warning signs, and the ones that are true warning signs, most people will probably not detect.