Study Finds 'Law & Order' Fans Know More When It Comes To Consensual Sex

Good news, "Law & Order" fans: All those marathons may have given you a better understanding of rape and consent.

This finding comes from a small, new study published in the Journal of Health Communication. In the study, researchers surveyed 313 college freshmen about the crime shows they watched ("Law & Order," "CSI" and "NCIS") and how they understood consent and sexual activity.

The survey found students who had the most exposure to "Law & Order" had "decreased rape myth acceptance and increased intentions to adhere to expressions of sexual consent and refuse unwanted sexual activity."

Students who watched "CSI" and "NCIS," however, were less likely to express "intentions to seek consent" and "less likely to refuse unwanted sexual activity."

While this is a small study and more research needs to be conducted before any real conclusions can be reached about what these shows have to do with our understandings of rape, it's probably a safer bet for teenagers and college students to watch "Law & Order" over the other two crime dramas.

This research is especially relevant as there is now a rape every 21 hours on a college campus.

If you're looking for other TV shows to watch that will make you a better person, give "Mad Men," "The Good Wife," "Lost" and "The West Wing" a try -- another study found these shows make people more compassionate.

Who's up for a Netflix binge night?

Citations: Law and Order Viewers Are Better at Understanding Consent (New York)