StorySpoilers: Story Spoilers
In Lock5Data: Datasets for "Statistics: UnLocking the Power of Data"

Ratings for stories with and without spoilers

A dataset with 12 observations on the following 3 variables.

`Story`	ID for story
`Spoiler`	Average (0-10) rating for spoiler version
`Original`	Average (0-10) rating for original version

This study investigated whether a story spoiler that gives away the ending early diminishes suspense and hurts enjoyment. For twelve different short stories, the study's authors created a second version in which a spoiler paragraph at the beginning discussed the story and revealed the outcome. Each version of the twelve stories was read by at least 30 people and rated on a 1 to 10 scale to create an overall rating for the story, with higher ratings indicating greater enjoyment of the story. Stories 1 to 4 were ironic twist stories, stories 5 to 8 were mysteries, and stories 9 to 12 were literary stories.

Leavitt, J. and Christenfeld, N., "Story Spoilers Don't Spoil Stories," Psychological Science, published OnlineFirst, August 12, 2011.

Lock5Data documentation built on July 23, 2021, 1:07 a.m.