How Do You Feel About Spoilers?

“No spoilers!”

Is that something you often find yourself saying when someone is talking to you about a book, a movie or a TV show you haven’t yet read or seen? Or do you not care when someone gives away the ending?

In “I’m Going to Spoil Your Favorite TV Show,” Anna-Lisa Cohen, a professor of psychology, writes about how spoilers might not be as big a deal as we think:

In this divisive era, when there are so few things we all still agree on, one point of basic civility stands unchallenged: You don’t mention the ending of a television show or movie if the person you’re talking with hasn’t seen it yet. It’s just basic human decency. Premature plot revelations are so far out of bounds that their name alone stands as a warning: spoilers. (On that note and before we go any further: Spoilers ahead.)

In the past few weeks, a dramatic revelation in “Succession” reignited the debate over how long spoilers should be suppressed on social media — and whether having advance knowledge of a momentous plot development (in this case: Logan Roy dies) ruins our enjoyment of a story. Recently, my colleagues and I conducted research to address this very question.

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t.

In a study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, my co-authors and I had people watch a suspenseful 30-minute TV episode directed by Alfred Hitchcock titled “Bang! You’re Dead.” Our purpose was to determine the extent to which knowing the outcome of a dramatic scenario would affect a viewer’s ability to be drawn in by it. We showed our participants this short episode, in which a young boy finds a loaded gun and mistakes it for a toy. The boy grabs it and walks around his small town pointing it and shooting at people yelling “Bang! You’re dead!” oblivious to the fact that there is a bullet in the chamber.

We told participants — a sample of undergraduate students — to raise their hand every time any character said the word “gun.” In the control group, participants knew nothing about how the story would end. As the suspense mounted midway through the show, they were so immersed in the events onscreen that they forgot all about their assignment.

In a different group, we told participants how the program would end. We predicted that knowing the ending would lower their engagement — and allow them to better remember to respond to the word “gun.”

We were wrong.

At the exact same point in the show participants neglected their assignment in a similar manner as those in the control group. In other words, they were just as immersed even though they knew the outcome. In follow-up questionnaires, they also reported the same levels of engagement and enjoyment as those who didn’t know the ending.

The truth is, we are just as likely to get caught up in a story even when we know what is coming — perhaps because more significant factors determine our enjoyment of narratives rather than simply waiting to learn or guess their resolution. Humans are hard-wired not just to absorb facts but also to lose themselves in stories and attune themselves to the characters and plots unfolding on the screen.

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

• How do you feel about spoilers in general? Do you like them, hate them or not care about them at all?

• Do you think it is bad manners to spoil a story without warning?

• If you’re someone who loathes spoilers, what lengths will you go to avoid them? Do you skip movie trailers or avoid reading book jackets so you go in knowing nothing? Do you stay off social media so you won’t find out what happens in your favorite TV show? How challenging is it to avoid spoilers these days?

• If you’re someone who likes to know how something ends, why? Do you read the last page of a book first? Do you look up summaries of TV shows, movies or video games before starting them? How, if at all, does knowing what will happen enhance your enjoyment of whatever you’re watching, reading or playing?

• What has been the biggest spoiler you have come by? Did it ruin the story for you?

• Are you surprised by the research Dr. Cohen presents that suggests spoilers don’t ruin our enjoyment of something? Do you think this could be true for you? Or are you still likely to shout “No spoilers!” the next time someone tries to tell you how something ends?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.