Murder will always be an aspect of life, whether in the 16th century, the 21st century or the future. In times of extreme stress, people may turn to murder as a solution to a larger problem that they cannot solve or control. Currently, murder has a greater value in society due to references in popular culture through media such as television, film, and writing; society constantly has murders and murders in the subconscious. In David M. Buss' findings in The Killer Next Door: Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill, According to our findings, 91% of men and 84% of women have had at least one vivid fantasy of killing someone. .. the human mind has developed adaptations for killing – deeply ingrained thought patterns, often accompanied by internal dialogue, anchored in powerful emotions – that motivate us to kill. (Chapter 1) Buss' point is simple: people experience the thought of killing someone, and the mind has adapted to do so. In fiction, however, some authors overlook the psychological aspects necessary to commit murder. Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, author of Crime and Punishment, incorporate these psychological aspects needed to commit murder into their main characters through each character's self-presentation, motivations, and thought process. Self-presentation, the way people present themselves to society and its overall facade, is a fundamental characteristic in the psychology of a homicidal individual. This characteristic is not just physical, but is a necessary component in how people with homicidal intentions feel they should present themselves to society. The Science News-Letter, published in 1949, notes that to avoid mass murder one must be aware of the following... half of the document... Psychoanalytic reading. Pasadena, CA: California Institute of Technology, 1982. Humanities Working Paper, no. 73. Buss, David M. "Chapter 1." The Killer Next Door: Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill. New York: Penguin, 2005. Print.Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and punishment. Trans. Sidney Monas. New York: New American Library, 1968. Print.Ellis, Bret Easton. American Psycho: A Novel. New York: Vintage, 1991. Print.Fox, James Alan and Jack Levin. “Multiple Murders: Patterns of Serial and Mass Murder.” Crime and Justice. vol. 23. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998. JSTOR. Network. .Rogers, Martin. "Video Nasties and the Monstrous Bodies of American Psycho." Literature-Film Quarterly 39.3 (2011): 231+. Literary Resource Center. Net. .