EFFECTS OF FICTIONAL, AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND SELF-HELP LITERATURE ON PERSONALITY MEASURES

This study evaluated three types of books under different reading cond itions and using two measures of personality. Data from 163 women were analyzed in a ? x 2 x 2 multivariate design, with control groups, whi ch Varied type of book (fiction, autobiography, self-help), reading co ndition (supervised and unsupervised), and order of testing (Eysenck P ersonality Questionnaire and Personal Orientation Inventory). None oi: the groups who received books to read had mean scores significantly d ifferent from those of the control groups. However, the group reading the self-help book had significantly higher scores on scales of self-a ctualization than the groups using fictional or autobiographical books .