Oh, so that explains it

I am immediately skeptical of studies that attempt to assign behavior patterns to concrete topics, but even if these findings are more amusing that informative, it's worth a read:

Not everyone enjoys a murder mystery with a surprise ending, new research suggests.

People who have lower levels of self-esteem prefer crime and detective stories that confirm their suspicions in the end, while those with higher self-esteem enjoy a story that goes against expectations.

"Personality plays a role in whether a person wants to be confirmed or surprised when they read mysteries," said Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, co-author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University.

"People with low self-esteem like to feel they knew all along who committed the crime, probably because it makes them feel smarter."

But overall, Knobloch-Westerwick said that mysteries probably appeal more to people who enjoy thinking more than average. "The mystery genre is one of the more complex genres," she said. "Mysteries have multiple suspects, and multiple possible motives, which all add complexity. It is much different than a suspense story which just has a good guy vs. a bad guy.

Comments

[Ray]

Face it, Sarah, the only reason you linked to this in the first place was so you could write Knobloch-Westerwick.

[Kevin Wignall]

Yes, so it isn't just me! Knobloch-Westerwick sounds like a character from Life of Brian.

[John Rickards]

Knobloch-Westerwick cured my leprosy!

[Ingrid (I.J.Parker)]

Amazing how thin real research topics must be in academe these days. This is a "duh" sort of result.
Actually, the puzzle-solving aspect of some mysteries amounts to little more than creating a game for the reader (it comes with certain rules of fair play, like introducing the villain right away, then hiding his/her identity by slight of hand while peppering the novel with real and false clues). Reading mysteries that way is probably useful for keeping Alzheimer's at bay but does little for those of us who read for other reasons.

[Julia]

I've just realized my last name is nowhere near long and complicated enough. I'm changing it immediately.

Sincerely,
Julia Knobloch-Westerwick.