2 Self-expansion
One of the theories concerning how we might change to become like the characters we read about is the theory of self-expansion. As you learned last week one of the advantages of relationships with fictional characters is that they are a safe space, as there is no risk that the fictional friend will reject us (Nell, 2002) unlike in our face-to-face relationships. On top of that, and importantly for what you will learn this week, this means that fictional worlds can be good spaces to foster connections with people that you wouldn’t necessarily connect with in real life, or in settings that you might consider too dangerous to inhabit in reality. The idea that reading therefore allows us to ‘live dangerously’ in a way that we might not want, or be able, to in reality, is probably not something you have considered before, but it becomes especially important when you consider that these fictional connections might provide an opportunity for self-expansion.