jtotheizzoe:

Psychologists Note That Readers Subconsciously Become Their Favorite Characters

It’s more than cosplay. When immersed in a fictional world, your mind can let go of its self-identity, and unconsciously connect with a fictional character’s behaviors and thoughts.

A phenomenon called “experience-taking” is thought to be at the heart of this behavior. It’s not the same as just sharing a character’s perspective. The readers actually transformed their world view to match the characters if presented in the right way. I think the most interesting part of this work is when they repeated the test with movies. The effect didn’t hold up. It seems like sitting in a theater doesn’t stimulate the unconscious changes that immersing yourself in a written character does.

Ever happened to you?