Examing the allure of the antihero.

• Position: Entertainment

Dexter, the honorable serial killer; Walter White, the meth-cooking family man; Arya Stark, the young assassin who seeks to avenge her slain family--many contemporary television shows, movies, and books feature characters we root for despite their despicable acts. The wild popularity of recent shows like "Mad Men" and current hits like "Game of Thrones" suggests such morally ambiguous characters--who possess an enthralling mix of good and bad traits--are engaging audiences more than ever before.

To make sense of viewers' engagement with shows and stories featuring morally complex characters, Mina Vogel, assistant professor of communication at Boston (Mass.) University, is studying narratives that are constructed to encourage viewers or readers to empathize with morally complex characters. For example, Dexter (from the former Showtime show by the same name) is a serial killer, but there is a compelling reason for his depravity. "You learn about his childhood and you start empathizing" with him--as a child he witnessed his mother's murder; as an adult, he helps stop (and take out) other killers. Characters like Dexter complicate our concept of good, "so, you're not always rooting for good and hoping that agony and suffering happens" to characters who do bad things.

When a character commits a negative action but is motivated by altruism, we are more likely to see that character in a positive light. In the former AMC show "Breaking Bad," for instance, chemistry teacher Walter White begins to cook meth--but the fact that he has been diagnosed with cancer and is motivated by the desire to ensure that his family is provided for after his death makes him an empathetic character.

The researchers found that people tend to see a character in...