In 2024, booksellers in the United States saw the first annual increase of print book sales in three years. It was a reminder that even in our increasingly digital age, books remain a powerful, and popular, force—not just for entertainment, but for personal growth.
Social psychologist Rémi Thériault of New York University isn’t surprised by the statistic. His own life was transformed at a young age by a self-help book, a gift from a family friend that helped reshape his outlook on life after undergoing treatment for Leukemia as a teenager. Books have been central to shaping Thériault’s life path—it was in book pages that he first learned about mindfulness, and that he was inspired to become a vegan. Starting at a young age, “books offered me an entry place to take control over my life, over what I could change,” says Thériault, “and this had a very large downstream effect on everything else in my life.”
“Books offered me an entry place to take control over my life,
over what I could change, and this had a very large downstream effect
on everything else in my life.”
While the benefits of reading fiction (like increasing empathy) are well-studied, the impact of reading nonfiction—especially psychology books that encourage loving-kindness and recognition of our shared humanity—remains largely unexplored. Thériault hopes to change that. With funding from Mind & Life Europe, he will investigate whether reading popular nonfiction books with prosocial themes can foster inclusive social identities, reduce polarization, and promote compassionate, cooperative behavior.
The project stems from insights revealed in his 2018 Mind & Life Institute Varela grant, which tested a six-week intervention aimed at cultivating compassion and reducing prejudice through lovingkindness meditation practices. Surprisingly, at least to Thériault, it wasn’t the meditation group in that study that showed the biggest changes. Instead, the active control—or ‘reflection’ group—who received weekly book excerpts and podcasts instead of guided meditations, showed the greatest reductions in aggression and the largest growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes, and altruistic intentions.
He says many of his peers weren’t surprised by this finding; the Buddhist path is not only about meditating, it’s also about studying the teachings and the sutras. Traditionally, they are always combined; meditation is not separate from the teachings, and they’re both reinforced by the Sangha, or community, Thériault says.
For newcomers to self-development and mindfulness, it makes sense that reading might be a more accessible entry point. Meditation can be harder than reading, he understands, which we have been doing for hours each day since we were kids. “Perhaps jumping into meditation without proper context—understanding the known positive impacts or the goals of the practice—won’t allow people to reap its benefits,” Thériault underscores.
Now, instead of a 6-week intervention, participants in his new study will read a nonfiction book—ideally 10 minutes a day for 10 weeks. Thériault and his team are leveraging artificial intelligence to select a publication for the study based on a wide array of criteria—like how likely the book is to reduce polarization, how accessible the book is for the average adult reader in the United States, and where the book falls on a spiritual-scientific scale. Books under consideration include “Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier” by Sharon Salzburg and Robert Thurman, “Plea for Altruism: The Power of Kindness” by Matthieu Ricard, and “The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities For Personal And Collective Success” by Jay J. Van Bavel and Dominic J. Packer, among others.
The selected book will then be shared with participants to read daily, compared against an active control group who will be reading a neutral nonfiction book. The team will measure polarization, aggression, compassion, and intergroup social connections using both quantitative and qualitative measures. Participants reading about lovingkindness, compassion, and bridging divides will show different changes in polarization and prosocial emotions and behaviors than those reading a neutral nonfiction book, predicts Thériault.
“It’s crazy that there’s so many people reading these types of books, that they’re so popular, and yet we have no idea what their actual impact is,” he says. Rather than creating a new intervention, Thériault’s eager to document the effects of what might already be happening in people’s daily lives. From there, he’ll analyze the text to understand why a book might be effective at decreasing polarization and increasing prosociality—things like analyzing popular passages highlighted by participants and the time spent reading different chapters. “It’s unlikely all books have the same impact on prosociality,” says Thériault, “and if we care about polarization, maybe we should think about which books we read.”
“It’s unlikely all books have the same impact on prosociality,
and if we care about polarization, maybe we should
think about which books we read.”
A reading practice accompanied by other intellectual practices—like listening to podcast episodes—is the kind of intervention Thériault believes can kickstart change in people’s hearts and minds. He sees this work as vital for uplifting adequate books for use as resources in schools, workplaces, and people’s personal lives.
This new project bridges Thériault’s longstanding relationship with the Mind & Life Institute and his new partnership with Mind & Life Europe. He’s attended both the Mind & Life Summer Research Institute hosted annually just north of New York City, and the European Summer Research Institute held each summer in Europe. For Thériault, receiving both grants is a full-circle moment—bringing together two organizations committed to supporting contemplative researchers and advancing the field.
“There’s more that unites us than divides us,” he says, a sentiment carried throughout his research and his hopes for the future. If his predictions hold true, this work could help transform the way we approach personal growth and social change. Alongside contemplative practices, “books are a kind of magic that brought meaning to my life,” shares Thériault. He’s hopeful that understanding their impact on polarization and well-being can help bring people more magic, and more meaning.
Thériault is also interested to know which books people believe might be particularly powerful to reduce polarization, and encourage readers to share their suggestions. Readers can share their book suggestions here.
