their own lives. With millions of books in existence, readers seeking specific wisdom and life
lessons are never left wanting.
The emotional advantages of reading also lead to health advantages. In a surprising study
published in Social Science & Medicine, researchers found that reading provides a survival
advantage.
viii
When looking at a group of elderly people, researchers found that readers, on
average, lived for an additional 2 years. These results were true regardless of gender, wealth, or
education. Researchers believe that this increase in life expectancy from reading works via
cognitive mediation. In other words, mental stimulation from reading may be the reason for the
increased survival. Conceivably, literature that is more emotionally stimulating may lead to
better results in terms of survival, since emotional stimulation often goes hand-in-hand with
mental stimulation.
Conclusion
Reading offers a plethora of benefits. It enhances cognitive performance. Students with reading
habits have been shown to perform better in the classroom and on tests. It also increases social
awareness and leadership abilities. Reading genres like literary fiction has been shown to
increase one’s Theory of Mind, or the ability to comprehend others’ beliefs. Leadership abilities
are also enhanced by reading as it enables leaders to efficiently gather new information that their
organizations need. Reading also provides opportunities for healthy emotional engagement. In
this sense, reading can act as both an emotional escape and an emotional training ground where
people can learn to see themselves in a more advantageous light. Lastly, reading can lead to
greater longevity due to its mentally invigorating effect.
With so many benefits of reading, everyone ought to set goals and commit to reading more. After
all, the amount of time the average American spends leisure reading each day is a measly 16
minutes, less than one-tenth of the average time spent watching T.V. Surely we can shift some of
that television time into reading time. Try to set specific goals-- finishing a book within a certain
amount of time (a week, a month, or two months), or reading for a certain amount of time each
day (30 minutes or one hour). Time spent reading is time well invested. So pick up a book and
get ready to grow!
Notes
i
“American Time Use Survey – 2017 Results,” Bls.gov, 2017,
www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/atus_06282018.pdf.
ii
Jackson Wagstaff, interview by author, San Francisco, March 14, 2020.