Start looking for sexy bookworms! According to recent studies, readers are the best people to fall in love with. Don’t believe us? Read on.

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Have you ever included “avid reader” on your list of qualities that you are seeking from a partner?…Well, maybe you should.

Recent research has suggested that readers, namely readers of fiction, make better companions than non-readers. People who are “deep readers,” that is, they read with intention that allows them to identify with and take journeys with the characters involved, are more likely to be empathetic human beings. Unfortunately, this type of reader is becoming less and less common in today’s world of quick information and abbreviated language.

Deep readers are found to be kinder and more intellectual human beings. They’re also more adept at their ability to consider and respect the opinions of others without losing grasp of their own point of view. So, a reader would be able to debate someone in a much more thoughtful and productive way than a person who did not possess this knack for understanding the opinions of others.

This capacity for empathy and consideration develops because readers have experienced the lives of others by identifying with the characters in the books they’ve finished. Through attachment to the characters they’ve followed, they experience joy and suffering that many people never relate to.

The personalities of characters in fictional literature are not whole, and this challenges a reader to understand the thought processes of those characters. In turn, readers become more likely to empathize with people in the real world, and they tend to become better communicators; and so do their children.

Children who are read to throughout childhood tend to be more accepting, adapt to their environments more easily and gain wisdom more quickly than children who are not exposed to literature. In fact, it has been observed that growth in vocabulary can be attributed more to exposure to language through reading than to explicit teaching of vocabulary.

For more evidence as to why bookworms make great companions, click here.

[image: via Erin Kelly on flickr]