Netflix hired a cultural anthropologist named Grant McCracken to explore why we love giving — and seeking — spoilers. McCracken says it’s simply a power play. He created a chart featuring five categories of spoilers people fit into:

For their part, Netflix is embracing McCracken’s results. They’ve created a “What Kind of Spoiler Are You?” quiz and a “Spoil Yourself” website which plays a randomly-generated, 20-second spoiler from TV and movies. Interestingly enough, 52% of our chaps across the pond feel guilty when revealing a spoiler. We Americans, well…only 37% of us feel badly, according to a poll.

[via The Mary Sue]