Readers as problem-solvers in the experience of suspense

We suggest that readers' reports of suspense are moderated by their perceptions of the range of solutions available to a textual dilemma. We provide seven experiments to test this relationship between problem solving and suspense. In each experiment subjects read texts that placed James Bond (or some other fictional hero) in a situation of grave danger. The texts differed with respect to the apparent range of escapes available to the hero. Subjects gave ratings of the likelihood that the hero would escape and of their feelings of suspense. Although ratings of likelihood were little affected, ratings of suspense were heightened when readers believed that the number of paths to a solution had been restricted.