Experts explain why some people hate spoilers and others want to see them first
People who want to enjoy a movie by watching it for themselves would definitely like to avoid having important scenes or mysteries spoiled. On the other hand, there are also people who want to know spoilers before watching the movie, and some research has shown that
'Don't tell me!' Why some people love spoilers – and others will run a mile
https://theconversation.com/dont-tell-me-why-some-people-love-spoilers-and-others-will-run-a-mile-256803
Naweed cites a 2014 study on spoilers to define the scope of 'spoilers' as 'undesirable information about the ending of a story.' While the appeal of a work can be conveyed by showing basic information about the characters and the introduction to the story in advance, knowing the secrets that the characters hold and the punchline of the story in advance may reduce the desire to watch the work.
People who hate spoilers will avoid looking at related topics on social media and distance themselves from people who talk about the work. In addition, production teams also take thorough measures to prevent spoilers, such as using special scripts and spending money to create an environment that prevents voyeurism, to prevent spoilers from spreading by word of mouth or social media due to script leaks or people being seen filming.
At the production site of a popular drama, thorough measures against spoilers are taken, such as 'self-destructing scripts' and 'drone killers' - GIGAZINE
A 2014 study in the Netherlands showed that viewers who watched a story without spoilers experienced greater emotional excitement and enjoyment. Research suggests that spoilers can supplement our 'mental models' of the story, reducing our desire to become immersed in the story, understand the events, and enjoy the unfolding story.
On the other hand, a 2016 study of short stories, mystery novels, movies, etc. found that participants who experienced spoilers reported almost the same high level of satisfaction as participants who avoided spoilers. In this study, people 'predict' how a story will unfold and end when enjoying it, and the sense of enjoyment of the story is created depending on how far the 'psychological distance' is between the actual development and the prediction. The reason why some people dislike spoilers is that the idea is that if you know how the story will unfold, your predictions will become closer to the actual development, and spoilers will ruin the story experience. However, the study showed that even after knowing spoilers, people still predict 'how the spoiler scene will appear,' and enjoy the story when there is a gap between their predictions and their predictions, so spoilers do not necessarily reduce the quality of the experience.
In addition, Dolf Zillman , a pioneer of American media psychology, said about the genre of 'suspense,' 'It creates tension and excitement, but you can only enjoy that tension if the ending works.' Therefore, many people feel that 'it was fun, including the thrill,' only when they see the punchline that resolves the thrill at the end of the story, and Naweed points out that the psychology of wanting to know spoilers may be to avoid works that will make the whole story less enjoyable by failing at the ending.
And a 2009 study (PDF file) on the TV series LOST found that fans who found out the ending of an episode enjoyed it more. The researchers concluded that this was because 'spoilers reduced cognitive 'pressure', allowing fans to immerse themselves in the story.'
As seen in past research, while some people are extremely averse to spoilers, there are also experimental results showing that spoilers do not impair the experience of the story, and some people even ask for spoilers before watching the story. The reason for this difference is 'how you experience the story,' says Naweed.
People who want to avoid spoilers tend to be emotionally invested in the story. For example, as the story unfolds, the listener feels a mental challenge in figuring out how to respond to the developments, and is pleased to see the story come to a successful conclusion. In such cases, knowing important spoilers would diminish the challenge, significantly diminishing the story experience.
On the other hand, people who seek spoilers may have a psychological desire to know the ending in advance in order to avoid the 'fear' reaction they experience from the development of the story. Psychologist Joan Cantor calls this a 'non-cognitive de-emotional strategy' and describes it as a defensive reaction to media.
'Maybe surprise alone isn't enough to make something interesting and engrossing. It's good to have an end to a journey, but at the end of the day, it's the journey itself that's important,' Naweed said. He added that whether or not people are concerned about spoilers is a matter of personal taste, and that the experience of enjoying a story is valuable in itself.
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in Note, Free Member, Posted by log1e_dh