A few years ago I co-authored a book titled “Why We Read and How Reading Transforms Us.” I’ll give you here a few of the reasons we read:

1. We read because through reading we live a thousand lives rather than just one. On a recent day I led the life of Hamlet; another day I lived the life of Louis Pasteur. Tomorrow I might be the last of the Mohicans.

2. We read to learn. I recently read how to upload a video to YouTube and then I uploaded a training video for my students. Years ago I read how to help individuals who faint at the sight of blood. I since have helped students, friends, and clients overcome that problem.

3. Reading gives us new and valuable perspectives. For instance, reading has led me to consider myself fortunate that I live in an era without smallpox and in a country that protects human rights.

4. We read for entertainment. Today I laughed out loud reading an excellent book by Bill Bryson, “At Home.” The book describes archeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers as an early proponent of cremation and says he “not only desired cremation for himself but insisted upon for his wife, despite her continued objections. ‘Damn it, woman, you shall burn,’ he declared to her whenever she raised the matter. Pitt Rivers died in 1900 and was cremated, even though it wasn’t yet legal. His wife outlived him, however, and was given the peaceful burial she had always longed for.”

All four reasons point to the same psychological principle operating:  We read because we expect to benefit from reading. This expectation comes from past reinforcement (reward experiences) for reading.

You are reading right now. What leads you to read now and at other times?

John Malouff, PhD, JD
Assoc Prof of Psychology