In theory, trigger warnings, also known as content warnings, should save us from seeing something upsetting — whether it’s a plain old gross-out, or some legitimately disturbing footage that can ruin your entire day. They’ve become more important in an age where even the most mainstream social media sites have turned into veritable snuff film hubs, platforming all kinds of gore that gets delivered straight to your timeline.

But we say “in theory,” because as new research explores, it turns out these warnings have an unexpected and counterproductive effect: luring us into watching the flagged material anyway — an extension of the undying human instinct to jump into stuff that we know goes against our best interests.

“Trigger warnings seem to foster a ‘forbidden fruit’ effect for many peop

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