The Joy of Reading

by Dan Dewey, Rex Nielson, & Victoria Rivera

Compelling evidence gathered by researchers from across the globe indicates many benefits that result from reading for pleasure. Such benefits include higher literacy scores, cognitive growth, and improvements in mathematics and vocabulary. Other benefits involve gains in breadth of knowledge and understanding of the world. And some studies identify social and emotional benefits associated with those who read for pleasure, sometimes referred to as volitional reading. Nevertheless, several recent surveys indicate that reading for pleasure has steeply declined in the United States during recent years. A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that 23% of adults did not read a book in any form the previous year. A 2022 NEA study found that half of all adults in the U.S. did not read a book for pleasure the previous year, and when compared against similar surveys conducted at five-year increments over the past twenty years, the data reveals a precipitous drop in engaged reading, volitional reading, reading for pleasure. Our study leverages the tools of BYU’s Language Lab, including fNIRS and saliva analysis to better understand the effects and potential benefits of reading for pleasure.