What is it about?
We wanted to understand how everyday reading, watching and listening to fictional stories connects with how people feel. We spoke in depth with seven adults about the books, films and television programmes they turn to, and about how they make sense of these stories and what part they play in their lives. From their accounts, we developed two broad themes. The first concerned effects on the self: people described choosing particular stories to lift or settle their mood, to have a comforting "good cry", or to feel more accepting of who they are after encountering characters who shared their experiences. The second concerned effects on relationships: people spoke of the companionship they felt with fictional characters, which eased feelings of loneliness, and of how stories helped them understand and get along with the people around them. Rather than trying to measure whether fiction "works", we were interested in how people themselves describe and interpret what fiction comes to mean for them.
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Why is it important?
Most previous research has tried to measure whether fiction produces particular effects, often within clinical settings or through structured reading programmes, and far less attention has been paid to how ordinary people, outside any therapeutic context, understand the place fiction holds in their own lives. Our study addresses that gap by listening closely to how people talk about their everyday engagement with books, films and television. This matters because it questions the assumption that watching television or films is passive or unproductive; the people we spoke to described it instead as a source of comfort, emotional release, companionship and a way of reflecting on their relationships. At a time when the links between screen time and mental health are so widely debated, these accounts suggest that fiction in all its forms, not reading alone, may offer an accessible and low‑cost support for well‑being. The findings could inform more flexible, person‑centred approaches within education, literacy work and mental health provision, encouraging people towards the stories that resonate with them rather than a prescribed set of works.
Perspectives
For me, one of the most striking aspects of this study was hearing how thoughtfully people spoke about something we often dismiss as trivial or a guilty pleasure. Working with Lucy Lewis on this project, I was drawn to the way in which participants described stories not as an escape from life but as a means of engaging with it, whether that meant permitting themselves a good cry, feeling less alone through a bond with a character, or coming to understand a family member differently. Working from a social constructionist position, I am wary of claiming that fiction has fixed or universal effects; what interests me is how people interpret and give meaning to these experiences within their own circumstances and relationships. I hope the study encourages a more generous view of how we all use stories in our daily lives.
Amanda Diserholt
Canterbury Christ Church University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Experiences of consuming fiction in relation to psychological well-being., Psychology of Popular Media, July 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000683.
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