Effects of Fictional, Autobiographical and Self-Help Literature on Personality Measures

Abstract

This study evaluated three types of books under different reading conditions and using two measures of personality. Data from 163 women were analyzed in a 3 × 2 × 2 multivariate design, with control groups, which varied type of book (fiction, autobiography, self-help), reading condition (supervised and unsupervised), and order of testing (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and Personal Orientation Inventory). None of the groups who received books to read had mean scores significantly different from those of the control groups. However, the group reading the self-help book had significantly higher scores on scales of self-actualization than the groups using fictional or autobiographical books.