Knowing that Titanic has a sad ending is one thing, but would you want to watch The Sixth Sense in the full knowledge that Bruce Willis was a ghost all along?
According to a paper published this month in the journal Psychological Science, it seems most of us would. The study at the University of California, San Diego showed that subjects given books with spoiler paragraphs - like the ending first - enjoyed reading the story more than the ones who were given the original text. The researchers believe that the same applies to film.
Such preferences might suggests a lack of imagination, but the volunteers said they enjoyed classics just the same, even those with ironic twists.
"Spoilers... may reduce readers' anxiety about what's to come, allowing them to focus on a story's aesthetic details," reports Jonathan Leavitt, one of the researchers. This, as he sees it, is why a favourite book can be read many times with undiminished pleasure. Similarly, ask any Star Wars fan if they ever tire of watching The Empire Strikes Back - despite knowing that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father.
But surely a spoiler would have ruined the first viewing?
Not according to the men in the white coats. And we all know how imaginative they are.
