Whether you’re a voracious reader who devours a new book every week or a slow reader who’s still reading that bestseller a friend recommended months ago, psychologists (and their research) say you’re making good use of your time.
And if it’s been a while since your last outing with a good book, the professionals have a few arguments that just might persuade you to try it again.
According to Melanie Green, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of communication at the University at Buffalo, “one of the benefits of reading fiction is just that it provides enjoyment and pleasure.” It can offer relief from stress or boredom.
Additionally, reading has been demonstrated to improve interpersonal understanding and communication, maintain cognitive function, broaden our worldviews, and help us develop as people, according to Green. Stories give us a sense of community and belonging to something greater than ourselves.
Green looks into the concept of “transportation,” or what enables one to become “lost in a book.” She claims that reading high-quality texts increases the likelihood of this occurring, but you are ultimately responsible for determining what constitutes “quality” in this context. For some readers, a fast-moving plot is essential, whereas, for others, likable characters or a poetic writing style are more crucial if you want to get sucked into the plot. And some people are just more interested in one type of story (romance, for example) versus another (thriller), she adds.
Regardless of the specific volumes that suck you in the most, here are just some of the things that can happen when you get lost in a novel.
We learn how to be the kind of people we want to be by reading about other people.
According to Keith Oatley, PhD, professor emeritus in the University of Toronto’s department of applied psychology and human development, reading causes us to think and feel in novel and unusual ways. In situations that you might not have encountered otherwise, you “give up some of your own habits and thoughts and take on your own idea of being a different person.”
Oatley and his colleagues discovered in 2009 that participants who read fiction experienced behavioral changes after reading one of two different versions of the same story, one an original work of fiction and the other a retelling of the same story written in a non-fiction style — participants who read fiction changed in their personality traits more than those who read the non-fiction version of the story, and reported feeling higher levels of emotions.
Reading contributes to fostering the sense of community that all people crave.
According to Green, reading can help us feel like we belong, which is something that all humans desire on an instinctual level.
Reading can mimic the emotions we experience during genuine social interactions, according to research from the University at Buffalo that demonstrated how reading actually satisfies this need for human connection. Twilight or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone were the two books assigned to a group of 140 undergraduate students to read for a half-hour. Afterward, the students claimed that they had psychologically entered the worlds of the characters during that time and experienced some of the same feelings of fulfillment and joy that we experience during real-world social interactions.
In a press release issued soon after the study’s publication, Shira Gabriel, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at UB, stated that “social connection is a strong, human need.” We feel good about ourselves and the world around us whenever we feel a connection to others.
It improves a variety of social skills.
Reading fiction also improves our ability to relate to, understand, and communicate with people in the real world (after we put that book down).
According to research, those who read more fiction also performed better on social ability and empathy tests.
According to Oatley, if you can relate to a character in some way, you can actually live a different life (temporarily and obviously in a very limited way). These results have been replicated in numerous studies, according to Oatley. Furthermore, research suggests that reading and comprehending fictional works actually activates the same part of the brain that is also used for understanding others.
Consider learning to fly an airplane in addition to using a real plane by using a flight simulator. You get to experience many various situations in which you are completely safe, but you can learn a lot about dealing with emergencies, unusual weather conditions, and other things. Oatley claims that fiction serves as the mind’s flight simulator.
Importantly, the research demonstrates that reading fiction enhances empathy rather than the reverse, says Oatley. (It’s not that empathic people tend to enjoy reading more.)
