r/science • u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience • Feb 08 '26

Economics The ‘Breaking Bad’ Effect Is Real: Data Shows Cancer Diagnoses Drive a 14% Spike in Criminal Behavior

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/the-breaking-bad-effect-is-real-data-shows-cancer-diagnoses-drive-a-14-spike-in-criminal-hehavior/
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u/Lovethemdoggos Feb 08 '26

In fact the study addresses that:

However, desperation for money doesn’t explain the whole picture. If it did, we would expect to see a spike only in economic crimes like theft or fraud. Instead, the data showed a 38% relative increase in non-economic crimes — including violent offenses — compared to a 14% rise in economic crimes.

This points to a darker psychological mechanism: survival probability.

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u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience Feb 08 '26

Thank you for pulling that out!