Source: Physics.org

In a world of sympathetic villains and flawed heroes, people still like fictional characters more when they have a strong sense of morality, a new study finds.

Researchers found that people best liked the heroes they rated as most moral, and least liked villains they rated as most immoral.

Antiheroes and morally ambiguous characters like Walter White—the chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin in the show Breaking Bad—were more complicated for people to rate on likability.

But across all of the character types, morality and likability were closely related to each other, said Matthew Grizzard, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University.

Read Further