Situational enjoyment is associated with gaze behaviour during reading.

Adam James Parker, Amrita Bains, Dorothy Zhiyu Gao, Emma Hance, Yunxi Li, Yifangjia Zhang

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In one paragraph

Article in Communications psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Adam James ParkerDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK. adam_parker@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1367-2282

Amrita BainsNational Institute of Teaching, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8824-6192

Dorothy Zhiyu GaoDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-0924-0297

Emma HanceDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.

Yunxi LiDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.

Yifangjia ZhangDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Reading enjoyment is typically studied as a stable trait, yet enjoyment fluctuates within individuals. We examined how both trait- and state-level reading enjoyment are associated with engagement and eye movements during naturalistic reading. Seventy-six adults read 40 book synopses, rated their enjoyment, answered comprehension questions, and decided whether to wait to view the book cover, while their eye movements were recorded. Mixed-effects models disaggregated between-participant (trait) from within-participant (state) enjoyment. Both levels predicted greater willingness to wait and higher comprehension. Trait enjoyment was associated with longer passage and total word reading times. State enjoyment was linked to longer passage times, increased word skipping, faster early word processing, and increased regressions, suggesting more efficient first-pass reading accompanied by increased rereading. These findings suggest that momentary fluctuations in intrinsic motivation are systematically associated with differences in reading strategies, indicating a close link between perceived value and the allocation of cognitive resources during text processing.

Identifiers

PMID42129359

DOI10.1038/s44271-026-00472-1

PMCPMC13396464

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LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.