Reading When Stressed: Understanding Motivations for Reading Fiction and Enhancing Future Recommendation Services

This study investigated fiction readers’ motivations for reading, their relevant needs regarding the fiction attributes, and their expectations for future fiction recommendation services. Seventy-six participants shared their fiction search and reading experiences through an open-ended, free-writing-style online survey. Findings show that readers’ motivations (a sense of connection, comfort and safety, diverse selection, escapism, coping with stressful circumstances) and corresponding fiction elements (e.g., author’s background information, themes, mood) were closely related to the situations or contexts that readers experienced, especially so for stress stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.