Beyond the Educational Context: Relevance of Intrinsic Reading Motivation During COVID-19 Confinement in Spain

Raquel De Sixte; Inmaculada Fajardo; Amelia Mañá; Álvaro Jáñez; Marta Ramos; María García-Serrano; Federica Natalizi; Barbara Arfé; Javier Rosales

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703251

Beyond the Educational Context: Relevance of Intrinsic Reading Motivation During COVID-19 Confinement in Spain

Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 12:12:703251. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703251. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Raquel De Sixte¹, Inmaculada Fajardo², Amelia Mañá², Álvaro Jáñez¹, Marta Ramos¹, María García-Serrano¹, Federica Natalizi³, Barbara Arfé³, Javier Rosales¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
² Estructura de Recerca Interdisciplinar de Lectura, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.
³ Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padua, Italy.

Abstract

What role could have intrinsic motivation toward reading in an extraordinary situation like the recent confinement? This research examines the relationship between intrinsic reading motivation (IRM) and reading habits in an adult population considering types of reading (for leisure, work/study, social networks, and news), gender, and distress generated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Participants were 3,849 adults from Spain who were surveyed about their reading practices: before, during the first weeks, and after several weeks of confinement. Linear mixed effects models (LMMs) were used to analyze data. Results showed a three-way interaction between reading frequency, IRM, and type of reading. Also, distress seems to pose a differential impact depending on the type of reading. The higher the IRM, the lesser the time devoted to study/work reading and the more to social and news reading (at the beginning of confinement). In this sense, IRM can function as a protective factor of reading behavior but only for leisure reading. Results support previous findings of the importance of consciously promoting this type of motivation in all individuals beyond educational contexts, since it seems to be positively related to well-being. Other results and implications are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; distress; gender; intrinsic reading motivation; reading behavior.