Reading Habits

People’s taste in books tells a lot about their personalities. Likewise, reading is the most

valuable way and great deal to approach life effectively and efficiently. The more we read, the

more knowledge and exposure we gain. The concept of students’ reading habits is on how often

they read, when do they read, what do they read and why do they read. Literally, not all students

have the same habits in reading. Generally, people are always encouraged to develop these

reading habits at an early age, to expose them with a lot of things around the world. Undeniably,

the facts that the power of reading brings a lot of advantages which indirectly can help motivate

people and build their self-confidence.

Indeed, the students are the one that always be advised to strengthen their reading habits

in order to support their learning capabilities. A study conducted by Skenderi & Ejupi (2017)

revealed that the majority of students enjoy reading and the most favorable types of materials

students read were romance, psychology and economy while politics and poetry were the least

genres favored by students. Moreover, a study conducted by Daniel et.al. (2017) showed that

55% of students read motivational books whereas 53.5% read novels and 52% of them like read

to informational books such as magazines. It turns out that interest is far more significant than

readability. When students have strong interest in what they read, they can frequently transcend

their reading level (Worthy, 1996).

Preferences of Reading Self-help Books

Wilson and Cash (2000) created a 40-item scale called the Self-Help Reading Attitudes

Survey (SHRAS) to better identify characteristics of self-help book readers. In the study, the
researchers surveyed a sample of 264 college students and their associated attitudes towards

reading as well as their self-help reading behaviors within the past year. The results indicated

those who enjoy reading and read more in general have more favorable attitudes towards self-

help books. Women and psychology majors were found to have more favorable attitudes towards

self-help reading compared to men and non-psychology majors. In addition, there was a modest

association between self-help reading attitudes and greater life satisfaction (Wilson & Cash,

2000). Other factors that predicted a more positive attitude towards self-help books included:

increased psychological mindedness and a stronger self-control orientation (Wilson & Cash,

2000).