{"source_url": "https://www.inverse.com", "url": "https://www.inverse.com/article/62046-star-wars-low-expectations", "title": "Don\u2019t expect a big psychological payoff from the new Star Wars -- study", "top_image": "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/9c/a4/d6/3f/1fa1/498d/be6a/286d3f8d3d7e/double-poster-for-the-rise-of-skywalker.jpeg?crop=edges&fit=crop&auto=format%2Ccompress&h=542&w=1084", "meta_img": "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/9c/a4/d6/3f/1fa1/498d/be6a/286d3f8d3d7e/double-poster-for-the-rise-of-skywalker.jpeg?crop=edges&fit=crop&auto=format%2Ccompress&h=542&w=1084", "images": ["https://fsmedia.imgix.net/9c/a4/d6/3f/1fa1/498d/be6a/286d3f8d3d7e/double-poster-for-the-rise-of-skywalker.jpeg?crop=edges&fit=crop&auto=format%2Ccompress&h=542&w=1084", "https://dc.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=275370&fmt=gif", "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/9c/a4/d6/3f/1fa1/498d/be6a/286d3f8d3d7e/double-poster-for-the-rise-of-skywalker.jpeg?crop=edges&fit=crop&auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&h=325&w=650", "https://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=19987187&cv=2.0&cj=1", "https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-dsZ5hTqk9YtgS.gif", "https://alb.reddit.com/snoo.gif?q=CAAHAAABAAoACQAAAAACWQ1QAA==&s=XEpByt_R434fqqGl0DfctKqGILDzrA7eDqfNEeDOv7E=", "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/assets/placeholder.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2", "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/assets/logo_desktop.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&w=246", "https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-xPmcrFNGfHkBg.gif", "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1455869871397255&ev=PageView&noscript=1"], "movies": [], "text": "As soon as the credits roll on the latest movie in the Star Wars franchise, fans are already wiggling in their seats in anticipation of the next one.\n\nOver the past four decades, the epic space franchise has built up the anticipation of millions of \u2018warsies\u2019 who have been closely watching the Star Wars adventures. And since the release of the latest film, Star Wars: Episode IX \u2014 The Rise of Skywalker, it has grossed around $361.8 million in North America alone. But sometimes, a dedicated fan base can be a double edged sword.\n\nA new study, published this month in the Journal of Media Psychology, suggests that built up anticipation of a new film can often ruin it for its fans.\n\nBased on a survey of Star Wars fans, the study showed that those who went into Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi, which was released in 2017, with higher expectations tended to enjoy the movie less. The findings suggest that before going into the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise, your expectations should be quite low.\n\nThe authors of the new study did an online survey of 441 people who had just watched the trailer of The Last Jedi three weeks before its release and asked them to anticipate how happy, sad, or nostalgic they thought the film would make them. The same participants were surveyed again after they had watched the film, and were asked to rate their enjoyment and appreciation of it.\n\nThe results of the survey showed that those who had anticipated they would be happier and more nostalgic from the film ended up enjoying it less, while those who had lower expectations for how happy and nostalgic the film would make them feel ended up enjoying it more.\n\n\u201cIt becomes a lot less about what is in the movie and a lot more about what you expected it to be,\u201d James Alex Bonus, assistant professor of communication at the Ohio State University and co-author of the study, said in a statement released with the findings.\n\nWhile the study suggests to lower your expectations before an anticipated film, you shouldn\u2019t lower your expectations too much.\n\nThose who had very low expectations of 2017\u2019s The Last Jedi but felt happy after seeing it reported a less enjoyable viewing experience than those who had experienced the same level of happiness but had gone in with slightly higher expectations for the movie.\n\n\u201cThe negative bias going in dragged them down and even if they were pleasantly surprised by the movie, they still didn\u2019t like it as much as other people did,\u201d Bonus said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really helping people to go in with those low expectations.\u201d\n\nSo, you want your expectations to be low, but not too low that it soils the whole experience for you.\n\nAdditionally, the study noted that how nostalgic people thought a film would make them, rather than how happy it would make them, played a bigger role in whether or not people went to see the movie.\n\nThose who had higher expectations of feelings of nostalgia were more likely to see the movie than those with expectations of happiness, according to the study.\n\n\u201cThat shows the important role nostalgia plays for audiences of established franchises like Star Wars,\u201d Bonus said.\n\nMore importantly, the study highlights how badly people predict their own feelings.\n\nAffective forecasting is a concept in psychology whereby a person will predict how happy a future event will make them feel, and it can often lead people to not wanting something by falsely assuming something will make them feel either happy or sad.\n\nIn the survey, around 55 percent of people failed to accurately predict how the movie would make them feel. In general, people are bad at predicting how future events will make them feel, according to Bonus.\n\nOur prediction powers fail us even more when it comes to a film franchise where fans have developed an emotional attachment to the characters over several years.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": ["Star Wars", "Psychology", "Star Wars: Episode IX", "Explainer", "Standard", "Science"], "tags": ["Psychology", "Star Wars: Episode IX", "Star Wars"], "authors": [], "publish_date": null, "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "A new study suggests that people who go into a new movie with higher expectations tend to enjoy it less than those with lower expectations. The study surveyed fans of the Star Wars saga, and found that nostalgia plays a larger role in determining whether or not people would see the film.", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/icons/apple-touch-icon.png?v=oLBJOpoj5y", "meta_data": {"viewport": "width=device-width,initial-scale=1,minimum-scale=1", "referrer": "unsafe-url", "description": "A new study suggests that people who go into a new movie with higher expectations tend to enjoy it less than those with lower expectations. The study surveyed fans of the Star Wars saga, and found that nostalgia plays a larger role in determining whether or not people would see the film.", "keywords": "Star Wars,Psychology,Star Wars: Episode IX,Explainer,Standard,Science", "twitter": {"image": "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/9c/a4/d6/3f/1fa1/498d/be6a/286d3f8d3d7e/double-poster-for-the-rise-of-skywalker.jpeg?crop=edges&fit=crop&auto=format%2Ccompress&h=542&w=1084", "title": "Don\u2019t expect a big psychological payoff from the new Star Wars -- study", "description": "Going into the movie with high expectations can leave you disappointed, according to study", "site": "@inversedotcom", "card": "summary_large_image"}, "og": {"url": "https://www.inverse.com/article/62046-star-wars-low-expectations", "image": {"identifier": "https://fsmedia.imgix.net/9c/a4/d6/3f/1fa1/498d/be6a/286d3f8d3d7e/double-poster-for-the-rise-of-skywalker.jpeg?crop=edges&fit=crop&auto=format%2Ccompress&h=542&w=1084", "type": "image/jpeg"}, "title": "Don\u2019t expect a big psychological payoff from the new Star Wars -- study", "description": "Going into the movie with high expectations can leave you disappointed, according to study", "site_name": "Inverse", "type": "article"}, "article": {"published_at": "2019-12-31T12:00:00.000000Z", "modified_at": "2019-12-31T12:00:04.440534Z", "category": "Science", "tag": "Science", "publisher": "https://www.facebook.com/inverse"}, "author": "Passant Rabie", "fb": {"pages": 820406651341117, "app_id": 1452605975051281}, "parsely-post-id": "111709a7-80d7-42c3-84e7-695541aa34ab", "msapplication-TileColor": "#ffc40d", "theme-color": "#231f20", "apple-mobile-web-app-capable": "yes", "apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style": "black-translucent", "apple-mobile-web-app-title": "Inverse"}, "canonical_link": "https://www.inverse.com/article/62046-star-wars-low-expectations"}