Alexandria Rogers

10/19/16
ENC2135
What Is Your Favorite Book Genre? I Can Tell You Why.
Have you ever watched a friend or sibling read a book about heroic tales and seen as they
transform into a braver, more confident person? Maybe you have a friend who likes to switch
between mystery novels and romance novels and you can tell exactly which one theyre reading
by the way the way they greet you. This isnt because they happen to mimic the feelings and
lessons from the books they read, such as your brother suddenly becoming courageous after
reading Harry Potter, or your friend greeting you with a morose hello while reading Stephen
King. Rather, it is because their personality has actually been affected by these books and the
subjects within them, and if you have been reading I bet yours has too. Psychologists, over the
years, have been researching how fiction and the different genres within fiction can affect the
personality of the reader, as Mac Barnett says, A Good Book is a Secret Door. A door that,
once you step through it, allows you to learn about and change yourself both consciously and
subconsciously by relating to characters and their plights, by seeing yourself as a partner in their
adventure. This is due to a number of factors, but it all comes down to who you are, and who you
want to be.
Fiction is a way to escape the current reality- or thats how its seen by a lot of people.
Ive heard people talk about reading as a way to avoid social interaction because they believe
themselves- or those who read a lot, more often the case- to be awkward and anxious when in
social situations. In actuality, however, it turns out that reading narratives actually stimulates

interpersonal sensitivity (Fong et al., 2013) and a persons capability to empathize (Appel &
Mara, 2013). The genre in which you read will not only affect your ability to empathize, but may
also have an impact, or at least a correlation to your personality traits (Fong, 2013). These are
called the big five and are extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability, and
agreeableness (Fong et al., 2013). There was a strong influence on interpersonal sensitivity by
the genres Romance, Suspense/Thriller, and Domestic Fiction. Exposure to Fiction, Nonfiction,
and Domestic Fiction correlated largely with the trait openness. Exposure to Fiction, Nonfiction,
Domestic Fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy, and Suspense/Thriller correlated largely with the trait
of introversion. All other correlations made were not strong enough to be certain, but there were
others as well (Fong et al., 2013). The trustworthiness of the characters in a novel can also
change your reaction to the novel. If a character engaging in an issue- such as climate change- is
presented as trustworthy you are more likely to want to take action or to change your feelings
toward the issue than if the character is presented as a liar or untrustworthy (Appel & Mara,
2013). This is because, while reading, you treat information from characters like you would treat
information from a real person you meet on the street (Djikic & Oakley, 2014). If you know
someone is a liar, you will be unlikely to pay attention to what they are talking about, even less
so to actually take action on it. This is the same for fictional characters. So all those people who
think that people who read are antisocial people who cant hold a conversation, youre entirely
wrong. Reading makes you a better people person, not a worse one.
Beyond just increasing your ability to interact with other people, reading can actually make you
better, it strengthens your brain, how fast youre able to think, and your problem solving skills
(Bergland, 2014). This overall development is partially due to an increase in things like empathy
and growing as a person, any change in your brain will constitute as growing, but reading can

actually improve how you think, not only objectively. When a person reads they are exposed to
new experiences without having to live through them, their ability to read and their
understanding of the language increases, as does the speed in which they read and process this
information (Kenesei, 2010). This is why so much stress is placed on reading and literacy within
primary schools, and is a large cause for the increasing literary requirements for secondary and
post-secondary educations as well. The change is palpable, it can be monitored and collected as
quantitative data. Reading fiction allows for a persons Theory-of-Mind to increase, as well as
their abilities to analyze situations and come a solution (Oatley, 2012). Due to the simulation
aspect of fiction people learn how to think ahead and analyze situations. This allows for better
situational experience in real life, as people grow and learn they continually add new situations
to their theoretical databanks. So when a similar situation comes up in real life they can relate the
experiences and act on them in a rational and calm manner, no matter how crazy it may be. What
you read not only shapes you and helps you grow, but can say a lot about who you are and a lot
of the culture youre in (Shafak, 2010).
In some places, its of serious concern what children are allowed to read. The list of
Banned Books exists at several levels, in the 2015-2016 school year alone Leon county banned a
book from their educational repertoire. One such book is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Which was removed from Lincoln High Schools summer reading
list because it displayed atheism and profanity (Doyle, 2016). Parents and guardians complained
about a book for high schoolers, when the school is supposed to be raising future leaders who are
supposed to be able to think for themselves they got upset about displays of atheism. It isnt
uncommon for place to ban or even burn books displaying religions different than their own, as
well as books of educational systems alongside killing the educated. For instance the invasion of

Alexandria and the burning of the library there, or the countless Nazi book burnings- for which
the wonderful book The Book Thief is a great way to understand these concepts without doing
tiring and enraging research. Many books are also banned for displaying sexual content (Doyle,
2016). This raises issues of its own when raising young people. Along the topic of these genres
affecting your personality and how, parents and schools that contest these school may be thinking
that these books encourage teens to become sex crazed. In actuality the teenagers are more likely
to absorb information about how to deal with a grown up relationship, sexual intimidation, and
other topics revolving around sexuality. After all, when reading the changes arent necessarily
changes that make the reader more like the character (Hsu, 2012), but rather the reader makes
choices and changes in ways completely unique to themselves (Djikic, 2011). For instance, there
was a study done on fans of Harry Potter on the personality traits of people who associate
themselves with particular Hogwarts houses (Ravenclaw for the win!), and while they expected
everyone to exhibit certain traits based on the house they were placed in by the official Harry
Potter Website, PotterMore,
Need for cognition and placement in Ravenclaw (known for wit and learning), and
between the Dark Triad traits and placement in Slytherin (known for using any means to
achieve their ends). We expectedbut did not findthat those in Gryffindor (known for
bravery) would be higher in extraversion and openness, and that Hufflepuffs (known for
loyalty) would be higher on need to belong. (Crysel et al., 2015)
Some people identified as these houses because of the traits outwardly exhibited within the book,
while others chose to see traits that were not as loudly pronounced, taking away the lessons they
wanted. So banned books can- for people who arent particularly gullible or rooted to their

beliefs- and should be returned to the freedom of the readers, unless parents have no faith in their
almost-grown children.
And how exactly does all this work? Mirror Neurons. These are the little things that allow
you to learn without having to actually do something for yourself. They are why you can watch
someone touch a hot burner, hear them yell and hold their now blistering hand and know, without
a shadow of a doubt, that you should not touch the hot burner because it burns. Science has
found that these little guys allow for you to, in essence, mirror others, allowing you to learn
complex actions without having to do them for yourself (Clay & Iacoboni, 2011). Its like
someone who has never used a sewing machine in their lives knowing how to sew and being able
to use one because they saw it on a YouTube video. Just like we can watch a person do
something online and learn something, like how to change breaks on a car, we can read about the
actions of fictional character and learn something(Clay & Iacoboni, 2011), like how to kill your
uncle for killing your father and marrying your mother (Shakespeares Hamlet). These little guys
buried in a special place in our brains have allowed for the human race to advance at somewhat
ridiculous levels and continue to allow for us to learn from others experiences, even those who
are fictional. This helps facilitate empathy, interpersonal relationships, and over all
understanding of the world (Clay & Iacoboni, 2011) without having to go out and interact with
people who pose a danger to our mental health.
We feel what the characters feel, we are genuinely scared when one is on the brink of
death and genuinely overjoyed when one finds love. We even categorize ourselves into the
books, take Harry Potter for instance. Weve already talked about how people sort themselves- or
get a website to sort them- and so these psychologists tested the personalities of their participants
and checked to see if any of them correlated, and some of them did!(Crysel, 2009). Its like

choosing a college because you both like the Alma matter and because you know a few people
who go there and like them as people, relate to them. Thats how reading with your mirror
neurons works, you relate to character and situations and you make a connection. With your
mirror neurons your brain mimics what you read, allowing for you experience the situations and
for them to be categorized in the same way as actions completed by the person themselves.
Mirror neurons, as currently known, are a subset of neurons found within those responsible for
motor movement and coordination. This was found when psychologists were monitoring the
movement of monkeys and viewed the area of the brain that lit up when they performed an
action, and observed that a subset of these lit up when they observed someone else did the same
action (Clay & Iacoboni, 2011). There has been a lot of research done on these neurons in the
hopes that they are the future of neurology, and I am more excited that they could be the future of
fiction and other media, take Virtual Reality for example. So excited, but for now, they help
explain why people love and are actually better for the love of reading.
So, pick up a book. While you read it, keep in mind that you are you, no matter how the
characters and their thoughts and actions persuade you to change. Keep in mind also the changes
that you want to take place within you and use it to help you choose a book. They are not devices
by which another person alters who you are, or for which you are taught things you shouldnt be
taught, but are instead a device for you to change yourself for the better and to learn things that
you want to learn. Books are a wonderful experience that are more than just a secret door, they
are a passage to a deeper understanding in both yourself and others.

HyperLink List
Shawn Achor; Mirror Neurons Interactive Exercise, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=QFfWBdtpabw
Mac Barnett; A Good Book is a Secret Door,
https://www.ted.com/talks/mac_barnett_why_a_good_book_is_a_secret_door
826LA; http://tadpoleaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/time_2.jpg
826LA; http://www.welikela.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/826la-tutoring.jpg
16 Personalities; https://www.16personalities.com/
Neurons and What they do; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyNkAuX29OU
15 Books in 3 Minutes; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA5_nWd9Xx4
Can We Guess Your Favorite Book Genre? http://www.playbuzz.com/epicreads/can-we-guessyour-favorite-book-genre#half
Young Adult Adventure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5tVOCxLYwU
Commonly Challenged Books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_commonly_challenged_books_in_the_United_States
Book Burnings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_book-burning_incidents
RavenClaw: https://lexicon-media.storage.googleapis.com/legacy/images/icons/shield_rav.jpg