Cognitive scientist Edgar Dubourg claims that the books on our summer reading list reveal aspects of our personality, specifically our inner anxieties or "existential insecurities". According to research by Dr. Valerie van Mulukom, book choices can be grouped into four clusters: Epic other-world adventures, Everyday life and human relationships, Threat and danger, and Facts and histories. Examples of popular books in the latter two categories include The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (Threat and danger) and Heartstopper Volume 6 by Alice Oseman (Everyday life and human relationships).
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Researchers at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and Oxford Brookes University have found that the books people choose to read can reveal aspects of their personality. Dr. Edgar Dubourg, a cognitive scientist at the École Normale Supérieure, claims that reading choices are not random, but rather a reflection of an individual's underlying motivations and emotions. According to his research, when people pick certain genres, such as thrillers or science fiction, they are tapping into their intuitive and instinctual tendencies. Dr. Valerie van Mulukom, a senior lecturer in psychology at Oxford Brookes University, has also conducted a study that suggests people's book choices are influenced by their "existential insecurities" or inner anxieties. The researchers believe that reading can be a way to process and deal with these underlying emotions.
Written for “Summer Reading Habits Revealed” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article uses neutral language to present the study's findings, but frames the 'threat and danger' category as a default or even desirable aspect of human psychology ('you're probably intrigued by danger', 'can't resist a murder mystery'). This subtle framing leans slightly towards an acceptance or valorization of anxious or thrill-seeking tendencies.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.55 for article 173 · logged 2026-07-31
- Published
You've been dreaming about that summer break on the sun lounger, book in one hand and drink in the other, for months.
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You → publish → months
Now the dash to the airport gate, train station or hours-long drive is all that stands in your way.
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that → stand → way
But what does the book you've just shoved in your suitcase say about you?
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you → shove → you
"It's definitely not a random choice," says Edgar Dubourg, a cognitive scientist at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.
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Dubourg → say → Paris
"When you pick a thriller or romance or horror or science fiction you're not escaping your psychology, in a way, you're really feeling very intuitive and very old parts of your brain.
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you → pick → brain
"Fiction isn't inventing new emotions in you.
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Fiction → invent → you
It's pressing on those pre-existing motivations like instincts."
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It → press → instincts
Studies have shown that our book choices can subconsciously reveal important parts of our personality - including what gives us pleasure and what makes us feel emotion.
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us → show → emotion
Research by Dr Valerie van Mulukom, a senior lecturer in psychology at Oxford Brookes University, suggests that our inner anxieties (or what she calls existential insecurities) determine which book we pick from the shelf.
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we → suggest → shelf
During her study, she used how often someone might engage with a certain genre to match it up with one of the following four clusters:
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someone → use → clusters
Everyday life and human relationships (comedy, romantic, drama, family, musical)
Threat and danger (true crime, crime/mystery/thriller, horror)
Facts and histories (documentary, biography, historical)
But what do they mean?
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they → mean → what
And how do they match up with our own anxieties?
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they → match → anxieties
You're probably intrigued by danger
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You → intrigue → danger
If, like me, you're big on crime novels, then this suggests you're concerned with - or intrigued by - threat and danger.
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you → suggest → novels
This isn't just limited to old-fashioned detective novels or psychological thrillers, but can be anything from true crime and spy stories to supernatural horrors like the works of Stephen King's books.
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This → limit → books
The UK bestseller lists have a range of titles that sit in the "threat and danger" category defined by the research, including:
The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (Penguin)
The Family Friend by Claire Douglas (Penguin)
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (Picador)
Beach bag full of romance novels?
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that → have → novels
You likely worry about your relationships
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You → worry → relationships
The UK bestseller lists have a range of titles that sit in the "everyday life and human relationships" category defined by the research, including:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Penguin)
The Names by Florence Knapp (Phoenix)
Heartstopper Volume 6 by Alice Oseman (Hodder)
Spending summer in Westeros?
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that → have → Westeros
You may be someone who worries about humanity's future
At the opposite end, someone who likes science fiction or fantasy novels tends to be more concerned with the state of the world.
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who → worry → world
If you're spending your summer holiday finally reading the Game of Thrones novels, known for mixing political intrigue and medieval battles with tales of dragons and undead armies, then you're likely to be someone who worries about climate change or the threat of war.
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who → spend → war
The UK bestseller lists have a range of titles that sit in the "epic other-world adventures" category defined by the research, including:
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that → have → research
Duskbound by Bree Grenwich and Parker Lennox (Penguin)
Red Dwarf: Titan by Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall (Gollancz)
To Flame a Wild Flower by Sarah A Parker (HarperVoyager)
Prefer non-fiction?
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Dwarf → Duskbound → fiction
You might be searching for answers rather than adventures
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You → search → answers
On my last trip abroad, I took eight books for a three-week holiday, ranging from Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic Dune to James Ellroy's noir throwback The Black Dahlia.
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I → take → throwback
But not everyone likes disappearing off into fictional worlds.
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everyone → like → worlds
Dr Dubourg says it is narratives that are important, not necessarily whether they're fact or fiction.
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they → say → ?
"Everybody consumes narratives, be it in the form of actual news, of anecdotes, of stories that people tell in neighbourhoods."
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people → consume → neighbourhoods
The UK bestseller lists have a range of titles that sit in the "facts and history" category defined by the research, including:
Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (Simon & Schuster)
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (Penguin)
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Pan)
So next time you pick up a book, what you think is just something vaguely interesting might actually make up an important part of your psychology.
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is → have → psychology
