Fiction on the Brain: The Science Behind Its Subtle Power

Have you ever read a novel and felt as if you had stepped through the pages into a fictional world? Perhaps you can almost taste the salt in the air when reading about the seaside, or you feel enchanted by the magical realm described in a fantasy book. When I need a mental diversion, I crave nothing more than to delve into fictional worlds and lose myself in the pages. That is one of the many reasons I love reading fiction – it is a form of escapism that offers a healthy break from reality. 

Unfortunately, fiction has been looked down upon as merely a form of mindless entertainment, especially compared to its more ‘serious’ sibling, non-fiction. That is far from the truth. Research in neuroscience and psychology suggests that reading fiction not only improves mental health but also shapes the way we think and view the world around us.

Fictional joys and sorrows and mental health

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a surge in reading habits whereby people turned to reading for comfort and distraction during that harrowing period. When researching this, I came across the term ‘bibliotherapy’, referring to a therapeutic approach using books or other forms of literature. One study showed that storytelling and narrative fiction were associated with decreased cortisol levels – a biomarker of reduced stress – and pain ratings in hospitalised children. A similar pattern of results was reported in another study which demonstrated that bibliotherapy was associated with decreased anxiety and stress in adults. These are positive findings, but they got me questioning how reading fiction boosts mental health.

I reflected on the times when I was feeling low and picked up a fiction book as my form of escapism. Personally, reading fiction evokes profound emotions whether it is joy, sorrow, hope, or heartbreak, and I am sure many readers share this sentiment. One of the reasons for this experience is that implied emotion in sentences activates brain regions associated with emotion, including the medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and insula. Taking the time to process those emotions while reading was exactly the form of distraction I needed. 

Viewing the world through the lens of fiction

The beauty of reading fiction is that I am not only processing my own emotions, but often those of the characters in the story as well. In doing so, it gives me the opportunity to view the world through the lens of others. 

The idea of placing oneself in a character’s shoes (or anyone’s shoes) is defined by a psychological concept called Theory of Mind (ToM). If you are a psychology major (or are simply a well-read person!), then you have likely heard of ToM, which is the cognitive ability to recognise that other individuals have their own emotions, beliefs and perspectives that are different from your own. In other words, ToM allows us to make appropriate guesses and predictions of someone’s thoughts and behaviours. It has been suggested that reading fiction, but not non-fiction, enhances a reader’s performance on ToM tasks. A neuroimaging study reported that reading fiction was positively associated with taking characters’ intentions into account when making moral judgements and activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Notably, this brain region has been associated with social cognition and emotion regulation. 

"One study showed that storytelling and narrative fiction were associated with decreased cortisol levels – a biomarker of reduced stress – and pain ratings in hospitalised children."

Through fiction, I can experience a variety of perspectives alongside developing empathy and understanding of different situations. Sometimes it feels as if I am doing mental gymnastics when trying to figure out a character’s motivations or thoughts, especially if their principles do not align with mine. However, I find this helpful as an implicit mental practice to navigate unfamiliar circumstances. 

The complexities of fiction

Going beyond the theory of mind, have you ever wondered how reading shapes your personality over time? A 2022 study demonstrated that reading fiction is associated with a more complex worldview. The results showed that individuals who read more literary fiction while growing up had (1) increased attributional complexity, (2) increased psychological richness, (3) decreased endorsement of essentialism, and (4) increased humility later in life. Let us unpack these terms.

• Attributional complexity is a psychological construct describing the extent to which an individual uses complex explanations to try to understand one’s behaviour rather than relying on simple, surface-level explanations.

• Psychological richness can be distilled down to ‘living an interesting life’ full of curiosity, learning, and novelty, even if they may not always be pleasurable.

• Essentialism is the tendency to group items or people based on hidden and unchanging properties typically applied to social categories (e.g., race and gender). 

  
  

Stripping away all that jargon, the findings suggest that reading fiction shapes individuals with positive traits including greater empathy, self-awareness, and cognitive flexibility. 

All in all, fiction is a powerful tool for the mind and soul. Its positive effects weave through us in subtle ways, often without us realising it. More importantly, reading fiction enriched my life not because I was consciously trying to learn something new from each book, but simply because I enjoyed it. Reading kept me sane throughout my gruelling PhD; books became both refuge and companion. I remember reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir during my final year. At its heart, the story explored friendship in the most unexpected circumstances. The friendship that blossomed between the main characters was extremely heartwarming, but there were also scenes that gripped my heart till I cried. I connected with the characters so deeply that it truly felt as if I was sharing those intimate emotions with a friend. In contrast to the black-and-white formality and rigour of PhD research, fiction paints the world with vivid colour, emotion and connection. 

Now I’m off to be transported to another world in the next book I’m reading. I’ll leave you with one reflective question: what is a book that left an indelible mark on you?

References

Brockington, G., Gomes Moreira, A. P., Buso, M. S., Gomes da Silva, S., Altszyler, E., Fischer, R., & Moll, J. (2021). Storytelling increases oxytocin and positive emotions and decreases cortisol and pain in hospitalized children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(22), e2018409118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018409118

Buttrick, N., Westgate, E. C., & Oishi, S. (2023). Reading Literary Fiction Is Associated With a More Complex Worldview. Personality & social psychology bulletin, 49(9), 1408–1420. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221106059

Hazlett-Stevens, H., & Oren, Y. (2017). Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Bibliotherapy: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of clinical psychology, 73(6), 626–637. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22370

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science (New York, N.Y.), 342(6156), 377–380. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239918

Lai, V. T., Willems, R. M., & Hagoort, P. (2015). Feel between the lines: implied emotion in sentence comprehension. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 27(8), 1528–1541. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00798

Tamir, D. I., Bricker, A. B., Dodell-Feder, D., & Mitchell, J. P. (2016). Reading fiction and reading minds: the role of simulation in the default network. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 11(2), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv114

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This article was written by Adriana Zainurin and edited by Julia Dabrowska, with graphics produced by Suzana Sultan. If you enjoyed this article, be the first to be notified about new posts by signing up to become a WiNUK member (top right of this page)! Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch.