"Murder fantasies are an empathy exercise."
Fantasising about killing your boss means you're less likely to do it.
According to a psychologist, more than half of people have imagined killing a person they know and it's usually a boss or an ex.
Image Credit: FlickrDr Julia Shaw from University College London says going through details of the murder in your mind makes people realise the negative consequences.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival, she said murder fantasies are an "empathy exercise":
"You think things through, you imagine what the consequences would be, you imagine what it might be like to 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'."
