7 Course summary
In this course you have heard from both crime writers and psychologists about some of the ways in which we relate to the fictional characters that we read about. The academic research in this area is complicated and fascinating, and is contributed to by scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Hopefully the course showed you some of the highlights of this diverse and contested research area. Specifically, you have considered a few of the psychological processes involved in our relationships with fictional characters such as identification and transportation. You have considered the impact that reading about characters can have on your own sense of self. You have also considered some of the ways in which your relationship with fictional individuals might have knock on effects in the real world.
Well done, you have achieved a lot and, more than anything, hopefully this course has been an enjoyable introduction to some of the varied thinking that exists about our relationships with people who aren’t real.