Fantasising About Killing Your Boss Is Totally Normal - According To A Leading Psychologist

Disgruntled employees around the world can breathe a sigh of relief as a criminal psychologist has revealed it's perfectly normal to fantasise about killing your boss.

Dr Julia Shaw, who is an honorary research associate at University College London, said that thoughts about murdering others, such as a boss or ex, is a "common phenomenon" and an entirely human reaction.

The expert added that thinking about killing an individual is in fact a positive as it could stop someone from carrying out the act, The Telegraph reported.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival, she said: "There's been research looking at participants and asking them if they've ever fantasised about murdering someone.

"More than half of people generally say yes, they have fantasised about murdering someon

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"Popular targets are your boss, other popular targets are ex- partners - the list goes on, you can picture where your fantasies might go. Now of course most of us don't engage in murder ever, luckily."

Dr Shaw described murder fantasies as an "empathy exercise" while some evolutionary psychologists argue that a harmless murder fantasy helps humans to function better.

Showing how evaluation has progressed, it suggests people have learned to adapt and think about the consequences more, rather than thoughtlessly going through with the act as our ancestors may have done.

She said at the event: "You think things through, you imagine what the consequences would be like, you imagine what it might be like to actually go through with it... and guess what your decision generally is? - 'I don't want to do that, because those are not the consequences I would like'."

Adding: "As human beings we've evolved intelligence, this ability to plan and to predict what outcomes might emerge from our behaviour, and that's a critical piece of humanity."

Dr Shaw also said it can be wrong to describe most murderers as "evil", because their actions are often the result of a loss of control or a one-off mistake.

Topics: Life News, Real, Murder, Health

Lisa McLoughlin

Lisa is a freelance journalist working for Tyla and the team's token Dubliner. After graduating with a MA in PR and Digital Marketing from D.I.T., she worked for MailOnline, Sun Online, Irish Independent and broadcaster RTÉ. Got a story of interest or want advice on how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness? Then email her at [email protected].

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