Benefits of Reading Fiction Novels
In his column on BBC Culture, Hephzibah Anderson said that reading fiction novels can “cure” those who are facing life’s trials. Reading has proven to be beneficial in sharpening analytical thinking skills and making us better understand patterns (events, behavior).
Reading fiction in particular can even improve social skills and empathy abilities. Journal of Applied Social Psychology published a study that concluded that reading Harry Potter making young people in Britain and Italy more positive about minorities. In 2013, psychologists at the New School for Social Research found that reading fiction can improve our ability to understand other people’s emotions.
Have you ever felt ‘immersed’ in a very interesting novel? When we finish reading it, it feels like we got inspiration from the characters in the novel. Based on a study at Ohio State University, this process can really influence reader behavior, you know. In their experiment, research participants who were inspired by the character in fictional reading who fought for the right to vote turned out to tend to use their voting rights in elections.
It’s not that reading a fictional novel will transform you, but an interesting novel can inspire and motivate, a short story can be entertaining and inspire self-reflection. When we need refreshing, fiction novels can make us momentarily forget about life’s problems and ‘enter another life’.
Fiction allows us to see what might happen, exercising our imagination and morality throughout the story. Following the wheel of a fictional character can even open our minds, make us aware of problems that we have been ignoring, spark an interesting conversation and possibly generate ideas or solutions to a challenge we are currently facing.
