When we immerse ourselves in the story of a fictional character while reading a book, we can change our thinking, our emotions and even our way of thinking to resemble the character, as a study by the University of Ohio (USA) has just shown that is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . The phenomenon is spontaneous and unconscious, and is called "experience taken". The changes it produces are usually temporary.
In one of the experiments carried out by Lisa Libby and her colleagues, the researchers found that if a person reads a story in which there is a character who is actively involved in politics and goes to vote, the person who reads will be more willing to vote if there is elections later. In addition, in another experiment they found that readers who read books about characters of different race and sexual orientation develop more favorable attitudes towards groups other than the stereotype.
However, the phenomenon of "experience taken" does not occur every time we read. It only appears when people are able to forget themselves while reading . In fact, in another experiment, the scientists prevented readers from identifying with the characters by having them read inside a cubicle with a mirror in which they saw their reflected image all the time.
