People have been losing themselves in choose-your-own-adventure stories for decades, but new research suggests that interactive fiction can also be a powerful tool for understanding the human mind. Researchers at Tampere University in Finland used simple hypertext fiction, the branching, click-through stories familiar from gamebooks, to investigate what makes readers feel as though they have become the character they are reading about.
The research, led by psychologist Nathan Hook and published in the Psychreg Journal of Psychology, brings together five experiments conducted over several years. In each, participants read specially written interactive stories in which their choices shaped the plot, before completing questionnaires measuring how strongly they identified with the protagonist. The approach deliberately avoided graphics and relied entirely on text, allowing researchers to control more precisely which elements influenced readers’ sense of connection with the character.
One of the clearest findings challenges a long-standing assumption in the video game industry. Many game designers deliberately keep lead characters vague, believing that a blank slate allows players to project themselves onto the role. However, the Finnish research found the opposite. Characters with rich, detailed backstories and multiple identities produced significantly stronger identification than those who were more sparsely developed.
Bob Hutchins, founder of Human Voice Media and a doctoral researcher at the Open University of Catalonia, who was not involved in the study, said: “This finding is supported by research from other media that shows that audiences are more likely to identify with detailed character portrayals. Identification with characters depends on having something to identify with.”
The study also found that giving readers greater control over a character’s decisions increased identification, while characters who ultimately lost or faced tragic endings were felt more deeply than those who triumphed. Within a clearly defined moral framework, good characters also prompted stronger identification than villainous ones.
Gender also played an intriguing role. Female participants identified more strongly with female protagonists, while male participants showed no comparable preference. When a character’s gender was left undefined, participants of all genders identified with them at similarly high levels, suggesting that gender-neutral characters may be an effective way to engage a broad audience.
Perhaps the most striking finding concerned mental health. Participants with severe depression or severe anxiety showed a measurable reduction in their ability to identify with fictional characters, while milder symptoms appeared to have no such effect. The researchers suggest that this finding could eventually inform low-pressure screening tools, with simple interactive stories potentially helping to flag when someone’s distress has reached a clinically significant level without requiring them to answer direct questions about their feelings.
Michele LaFemina, clinical director at Pathways Treatment Center in New Jersey, who was not involved in the study, said: “What I find most interesting is the decrease in identification observed amongst those with severe depression or anxiety. My own clinical experience has shown how our emotions shape our ability to understand and connect with others’ experiences. However, judging emotional responsiveness in this application isn’t a reliable diagnostic tool.”
Hutchins added: “I recommend more research on narrative screening, with some caveats. Identification was an outcome of the study, not a clinical indicator. Individuals should not be identified on the basis of narrative responses that they believed were only fictional.”
Beyond the clinical implications, the findings offer practical guidance for novelists, screenwriters, and game designers seeking to build genuine emotional connections with audiences. The research suggests that giving characters depth, meaningful choices, and moral clarity can strengthen identification, particularly when their stories take an unexpected or tragic turn.
“Film producers might consider this information when deciding how to allocate resources, investing more in backstory and character action options than in image-related features,” Hutchins said.
