New Study Suggests Binge-Watching and Marathon Reading May Have Hidden Psychological Benefits

Two studies found that TV shows watched consecutively for longer durations or books read in long reading bouts were more memorable and more likely to be targets of retrospective imaginative involvement. In other words, when people engage in binge-watching a TV show or marathon reading a book, they are more likely to think about the stories of these shows and books afterward, relive them in their imagination, expand them, or imagine alternative story developments. The paper was published in Acta Psychologica.

People love stories. Stories are important because they organize experience into coherent, meaningful patterns, helping individuals understand events, motives of other people, and consequences of actions. They allow people to simulate social situations safely. This strengthens empathy, moral reasoning, and perspective taking.

When stories are fictional, such as those typically found in TV shows or books, they provide immersive emotional experiences without real-world risk, allowing people to feel fear, love, triumph, and loss safely. They offer narrative structure that makes sense of chaos, satisfying the deep cognitive preference humans have for meaning, coherence, and resolution. They also create parasocial bonds with characters, giving individuals companionship and social simulation that feels psychologically real.