UC San Diego

Reading stories is an immensely popular cross-cultural pastime, even though its utility is not apparent. People read stories in their leisure time, use them to pass along cultural values and religious beliefs, and share them with their children before bed. Fictional stories in particular are popular, even though it is not clear the information they provide can be applied to real experience. This dissertation explores why people read stories by examining variables that cause stories to be experienced as more or less pleasurable. In particular, we examine fictionality and suspense. Chapter 1 describes three experiments investigating differences between reading fiction and non- fiction. Subjects in the experiments read, respectively, brief synopses, anecdotes from popular websites, and longer narratives. In each case, texts were randomly presented as true, fictional, or indeterminate. Results suggest that, all things being equal, readers prefer a story when they believe it is true. This may be because readers generalize that the events described in true stories occur more commonly in real life. At the same time, readers preferred the style of writing they associated with fiction, demonstrating a preference for the artfulness and confluences of circumstance that characterize invented stories. Suspense is widely considered a crucial narrative element. When asked why they read stories, people commonly reply that they want to find out what happens. Chapter 2 tests the idea that not knowing the ending is crucial to enjoying the first read of a story. Across three experiments, readers of, respectively, stories that end in ironic twists, murder mysteries, and evocative literary stories were informed of the endings before they began reading. Readers preferred spoiled stories in all three genres, suggesting that suspense regarding outcomes is not crucial to story enjoyment. Chapter 3 describes three experiments examining the mechanism underlying preference for spoiled stories. The first, using previously spoiled stories, found that it is increased fluency, rather than either greater attention to aesthetic elements or simple appreciation of anticipated endings, that mediates this effect. Knowing how stories end likely allows readers to focus their attention on relevant details and better comprehend the meaning of events