Read any good books lately? If so, what made them “good” books to you? Did they teach you something new about the world? Did they help you escape from the humdrum of daily existence? Did they soothe or comfort you in some way? Did they expose you to a social setting in which you felt immersed to the point of belonging to the group that was represented? That last scenario may seem bizarre, but according to research conducted at the University of Buffalo, reading books somehow provides us with a unique element of human connection that may, at least for a time, allow our self concepts to bond with the social fabric spun by stories in those books.

Sure, most of us (even goths) don’t really think that we’re witches or wizards or vampires or hobbits, but studies led by psychologist Shira Gabriel suggest that reading about witches and wizards and vampires and hobbits (and tax collectors for the extra kinky) temporarily identify with the groups about which they’re reading in a way that satisfies a deeply human, primordial need to be social. 140 undergraduates were asked about how important they felt social interaction and group association were to their own sense of well-being. Then they were split into two groups and given passages to read — one group got half an hour with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight character Edward Cullen talking to Bella Swan about what it’s like to be a vampire, and the other group got J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter meeting professor Severus Snape. (For those who only know the movie versions of these characters, Edward Cullen = Robert Pattinson, Bella Swan = Kristen Stewart, Harry Potter = Daniel Radcliffe, and Severus Snape = Alan Rickman. Glad to be of help!)

CC licensed Flickr photo shared by popculturegeek.com

Two tests were then given to gauge how reading these passages affected their readers. In the first test, the readers were asked to identify quickly flashed “me” words (such as mine, myself, and I) paired with “wizard” words (such as potion, beard, and spell) and “not-me” words (like them, their, and they) paired with “vampire” (like blood, fang, and undead) words. The same buttons were used for each pairing (for example, the reader would be asked to press the same button for “me” words and “wizard” words, and “not-me” words with “vampire” words). The pairs were then reversed — “me” words shared the same response button as “vampire” words, and “not-me” words shared the button with “wizard” words. Depending on the passage to which the reader had been assigned, responses were quicker when the word pairs matched that passage’s vampire or wizard character.

In the second test, the researchers asked the readers to supply answers along what they called a Twilight/Harry Potter Narrative Collective Assimilation Scale (I’m not making this up). Questions on this scale could be anything from “how sharp are your teeth?” to “how good at you at casting spells?” A follow-up series of questions was asked to ascertain each reader’s general mood and level of life satisfaction. The study’s conclusions?

• The participants who read the Harry Potter passage associated more closely with all things wizardly, and the Twilight readers were a bunch of bloodsucking, sparkly monsters most identified with vampires.
• Readers who felt most fulfilled by group interaction in real life showed more inclination to assimilate to the group represented by their assigned passage.
• It’s possible for fictional communities to deliver a level of satisfaction comparable to real life communities.

Online social media may be a pretty new phenomenon in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly isn’t the only way that people feel connected to others without being physically in the same room with them. As much as I love the at-my-fingertips recall of any information I may ever need that the Internet and social media give me, the bookworm I’ll always be — the one that grew up loving libraries and their papery, pulpy, tangible offerings — is somehow satisfied by these findings. Maybe I just read too many novels about librarians and bookmongers.