According to a study by the University of Buffalo (USA) recently published in the journal Psychological Science , when we read a book we feel psychologically part of the community that stars in the story , for example the group of magicians in the case of the popular Harry Potter saga. This mechanism satisfies a fundamental human need: that of belonging to a group.
Specifically, for the research, the researchers worked with two best-sellers: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Twilight . And they studied the psychological affiliation with magicians and vampires, respectively, of more than a hundred subjects before and after reading two excerpts from both books for half an hour. In this way they verified that the readers felt identified with one or another group based on the book they had been provided with. In addition, belonging to fictional communities produced an improvement in mood and satisfaction similar to that of being part of real groups. "Reading satisfies a deep psychological need," which has played a key role in evolution, the authors concluded.
