Back Where I Belong: Rereading as a Risk-Free Pathway to Social Connection

Although extensive research has explored individuals’ engagement with media, the topic of elective reexposure to narratives remains underexplored. The ability of fictional narratives to meet social needs may help explain the appeal of rereading, as well as individual differences in the tendency to reread. We present a measure of the tendency to reread books and examine associations between the tendency to reread and other individual difference factors. Our findings suggest that the tendency to reread is a construct that is unique from the tendency to read in general, and that it is associated with unfulfilled belongingness needs, insecurity about social acceptance, deep engagement with narrative worlds, and other distinct personality characteristics. These findings suggest that the tendency to reread may signal a heightened tendency to engage with narratives to fulfill unmet social goals.