Reading has always been one of my true loves, but since I’ve come to college it’s fallen to the side in favor of work or school. Now that fall is in full swing, I’m finding myself getting the familiar urge to curl up with a book I can get lost in -I just cannot justify spending the time! So like any good library worker, I did my research and found out for myself why reading is worthwhile.
The Research
A study done in China with over 14,000 college students found that reading for leisure was positively correlated with socioemotional competency. This study defined socioemotional competency as “a set of abilities necessary for achieving personal goals, fostering collaboration, and managing emotions effectively” (Li, et al., 2025). Clearly defining it as the important ability to control one’s own emotions. In order to test the student’s socioemotional competency they adapted a scale based on the Chinese Undergraduates' Social Emotional Competency Scale and added some questions about how long the students spent reading for fun.
After analyzing the data from their survey, they found that most students scored high for socioemotional competency and had a low score for leisurely reading. However, even given that, there was a significant relationship between a positive socioemotional competency and time spent for leisurely reading. What it came down to was reading helped the students better understand themselves, potentially by giving them time to be with themselves. “To sum up, these results indicated that leisure reading had the strongest predictive effect on recognizing and managing relationship with oneself…” (Li, et al., 2025). Potentially with a better understanding of themselves they were able to better understand their emotions.
Conclusion
School life is challenging; the last thing I want to hear is that I need to add yet another thing to the list. But this doesn’t have to be a chore! Instead it’s a valuable hobby that will give you time to spend with yourself. Your mind and emotions are valuable and worthy of being taken care of, even in the business of the fall semester. No one said you have to spend hours binging your book late into the night, just make sure you’re being conscious about how you’re spending your time. Remember that you deserve your time just as much as your homework does.
Being at school means the barrier to entry for reading is super low! There are an abundance of fun spots on campus to read and a library full of interesting books (I’ve been eyeing the Alchemist myself). Even if it’s a beloved book from your childhood and not something “grown-up”, the results are going to be the same. This is the season of slowing down and taking time to reflect, so don’t be afraid to participate in that. Hopefully I’ll catch you all curled up with a good book in the Clab, but if not have the loveliest of Novembers!
References
Li, R., Wang, S., Chen, Z., Guo, J., & Wang, Y. (2025). Can leisure reading enhance college students’ social emotional competencies: A large-scale empirical study. International Journal of Educational Research, 130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102535