Spoilers Affect the Enjoyment of Television Episodes but Not Short Stories
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13677197 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas A Daniel (0000-0002-8046-3827, Westfield State University, corresponding author), Jeffrey S Katz (0000-0001-9966-1033, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 122 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1794-1807 |
| Publication date | 2018-08-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychological Reports (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0033294118793971 |
| PMID | 30115003 |
| OpenAlex | W2885685654 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 20 |
While spoilers are culturally regarded as something that detracts enjoyment from a narrative, research has presented a complicated picture. When Leavitt and Christenfeld presented participants plot-crucial information to individuals before reading a short story, the story was subsequently enjoyed as much as, or more than, unspoiled stories. Other research shows that these findings may be driven by an interaction of individual differences, such as need for cognition, rather than a broad spoiling effect. In Experiment 1, we tested if reported enjoyment of a narrative decreased even when participants were alerted to the presence of a plot spoiler, to extend previous findings for short stories while adding a condition informing participants beforehand that their short stories was being spoiled. Experiment 2 extended this methodology to full-length episodes of television. Our results were different from previously reported positive effects of spoilers and show that spoilers, under certain circumstances, have a negative effect on enjoyment for television but not short stories
Affect (linguistics · Art · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Plot (graphics · Reading (process · Communication · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Mathematics · Media Influence and Health · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology
The Efficient Assessment of Need for Cognition
Effects of Perceptual Fluency on Affective Judgments
Gender, Context, and Reading
The Need for Affect
Who’s afraid of spoilers? Need for cognition, need for affect, and narrative selection and enjoyment
I didn’t see that coming
The Effects of Mere Exposure on Liking for Edible Substances
The Effect of Spoilers on the Enjoyment of Short Stories
Attitudinal effects of mere exposure
The file drawer problem and tolerance for null results
The Gender Gap in the Enjoyment of Televised Sports
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |