Limits and being unlimited by the reading format: a phenomenological study on emotional experiences of readers of audiobooks and physical books
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47989/ir31367209Keywords:
literature, audiobooks, affect, affective neuroscience, phenomenology, IPAAbstract
Introduction. This is a qualitative study of the reading habits and experiences of readers of audiobooks and physical fiction books, with a focus on their emotional reactions to the reading process and the format of reading.
Method. Qualitative interviews were carried on for Finnish participants (N=6) and transcribed.
Analysis. The analysis was interpretative phenomenological analysis, which focuses on the personal interpretations of the participants’ reading experiences. The transcribed interviews were analysed in multiple rounds and the process of coding was used to map out themes.
Results. The results suggest that both formats of reading create strong affective and emotional connections in the readers, but in various and often polarizing and dichotomic ways. Feeling of being limited by the format and having control over the environment were two major themes regarding the reading and listening experience.
Conclusion. All participants formed strong emotional connections with the medium and felt that the one that they did not prefer had negative connotations and limitations to the reading experience, whereas their preferred medium enhanced their experience and liberated them from the limitations of the not preferred medium.
References
Aagaard, J. (2019). Multitasking as distraction: A conceptual analysis of media multitasking research. Theory & Psychology, 29(1), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354318815766
Bacha, C. S. (2019). The first revolution: Taking Jaak Panksepp seriously: Group analysis and the neuroscience of emotion. Group Analysis, 52(4), 441–457. https://doi.org/10.1177/0533316419858583
Berglund, K., & Steiner, A. (2021). Is Backlist the new frontlist?: Large-scale data analysis of bestseller book consumption in streaming services. LOGOS: Journal of the World Publishing Community, 32(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1163/18784712-03104006
Björkén-Nyberg, C. (2020). Hearing, seeing, experiencing: Perspective taking and emotional engagement through the vocalisation of Jane Eyre, Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart. International Journal of Language Studies, 14(1), 63–88. diva2:1352391
Camlot, J. (2011). The three-minute Victorian novel: Remediating Dickens into sound. In M. Rubery (Ed.), Audiobooks, literature and sound studies (pp. 25–43). Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203818039
Carocci, E. (2014). First-person emotions: Affective neuroscience and the spectator’s self. Cinéma & Cie : International Film Studies Journal, 22(23), 65–75. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/view/16340
Cedeira Serantes, L. (2016). When comics set the pace. In L. McKechnie, K. Oterholm, P. Rothbauer & K. Skjerdingstad (Eds.), Plotting the reading experience: Theory, practice, politics (pp. 217–232). Wilfrid Laurier University. https://doi.org/10.5325/reception.9.1.0111
Dali, K., & Brochu, L. (2020). The right to listen: A not so simple matter of audiobooks. Library Resources and Technical Services, 64(3), 106–119. https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.64n3.106-119
David, I. (2016). Sequences, dreams and cinema. Sydney Studies in English, 42, 86–101. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SSE/article/view/11361
Davis, K. L., & Montag, C. (2019). Selected principles of Pankseppian affective neuroscience. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12. 1025. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.01025
Firth, J., Torous, J., López-Gil, J. F., Linardon, J., Milton, A., Lambert, J., Smith, L., Jarić, I., Fabian, H., Vancampfort, D., Onyeaka, H., Schuch, F. B., & Firth, J. A. (2024). From “online brains” to “online lives”: Understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions. World Psychiatry, 23(2), 176–190. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21188
Grodal, T. (2009). Embodied visions: Evolution, emotion, culture and film. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371314.001.0001
Have, I., & Stougaard Pedersen, B. (2015). Digital audiobooks: New media, users and experiences. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315743080
Kristensen, L., & Lüders, M. (2021). Convenient and worth the price? Identifying early users and predicting future use of book streaming services. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 29(1), 183-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565211057516
Montag, C., Elhai, J., & Davis, K. (2021). A comprehensive review of studies using the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales in the psychological and psychiatric sciences. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 125, 160–167. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.019
Nan, J., & Ho, R. (2014). Affect regulation and treatment for depression and anxiety through art: Theoretical ground and clinical issues. Annals of Depression and Anxiety, 1(2). https://austinpublishinggroup.com/depression-anxiety/fulltext/depression-v1-id1008.php (Archived by the Internet Archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20171120124900/https://austinpublishinggroup.com/depression-anxiety/fulltext/depression-v1-id1008.php)
Narvaez, D., Panksepp, J., Schore, A., & Gleason, T. (2013). The value of using an evolutionary framework for gauging children’s well-being. In D. Narvaez, J. Pankseep, A. N. Schore, & T. R. Gleason (Eds.), Evolution, early experience and human development: from research to practice and policy (pp. 3-30). Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755059.003.0001
Noorda, R., & Berens, K. (2021). Immersive media & books: Consumer behavior and experience with multiple media forms (English Faculty Publications and Presentations, 74). https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35178
Nowosielski, R., Trick, L., & Toxopeus, R. (2018). Good distractions: Testing the effects of listening to an audiobook on driving performance in simple and complex road environments. Accident Analysis and Prevention 111, 202–209. 10.1016/j.aap.2017.11.033
Panksepp, J. (1998). Affective neuroscience: The foundations of human and animal emotions. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195096736.001.0001
Panksepp, J., & Biven, L. (2012). The archaeology of mind: Neuroevolutionary origins of human emotions. W. W. Norton & Company. https://doi.org/10.1086/678639
Panksepp, J., & Wilson, C. (2016). Brain SEEKING circuitry in neuroeconomics: A unifying hypothesis for the role of dopamine-energized arousal of the medial forebrain bundle in enthusiasm-guiding decision-making. Chapter 13 in R. Reuter, & C. Montag. (Eds.), Neuroeconomics (pp. 231-252; Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics). Heidelberg. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-642-35923-1_13
Rodero, E. (2018). The growing importance of the voice and sound in communication in the digital age: The leading role of orality. AC/E Digital culture annual report: Digital trends in culture: Focus 2018: Readers in the Digital Age (pp. 74–87). https://www.accioncultural.es/en/annual-report-2018 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326692799_THE_GROWING_IMPORTANCE_OF_THE_VOICE_AND_SOUND_IN_COMMUNICATION_IN_THE_DIGITAL_AGE_THE_LEADING_ROLE_OF_ORALITY)
Rothbauer, P. (2009). Exploring the placelessness of reading among older teens in a Canadian rural municipality. The Library Quarterly, 79(4), 465–483. https://doi.org/10.1086/605384
Rothbauer, P., & Cedeira Serantes, L. (2021). Reading time: Exploring the temporal experiences of reading. Journal of Documentation, 78(1), 113–128.https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2020-0200
Rubery, M. (Ed.) (2011). Audiobooks, literature and sound studies. Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203818039
Smith, J., Larkin, M., & Flowers, P. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis theory. Sage.
Smith, J. (2018). “Yes it is phenomenological”: A reply to Max Van Manen’s critique of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 28(12). https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732318799577
Spjeldnæs, K., & Karlsen, F. (2022). How digital devices transform literary reading: The impact of e-books, audiobooks and online life on reading habits. New Media & Society, 26(8), 4808-4824. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221126168
Stets, J. (2006). Handbook of the sociology of emotions. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-30715-2
Suomen Kustannusyhdistys. (2024). Äänikirjojen myynti [Sale of audio books]. https://tilastointi.kustantajat.fi/vuositilasto/aanikirjojen-myynti/2023 (Archived by the Internet Archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20250524023121/https://tilastointi.kustantajat.fi/vuositilasto/aanikirjojen-myynti/2023 )
Székely, É., Cabral, J., Abou-Zleikha, M., Cahill, P., & Carson-Berndsen, J. (2012). Evaluating expressive speech synthesis from audiobooks in conversational phrases. In N. Calzolari, K. Choukri, T. Declerck, M. Dogan, B. Maegaard, J. Mariani, J. Odijk, S. Piperidis (Eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-2012), Istanbul, Turkey, May 23-25, 2012 (pp. 3335–3339). http://www.lrec-conf.org/proceedings/lrec2012/pdf/864_Paper.pdf (Archived by the Internet Archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20260610110742/http://www.lrec-conf.org/proceedings/lrec2012/pdf/864_Paper.pdf)
Tattersall Wallin, E., & Nolin, J. (2020). Time to read: Exploring the timespaces of subscription-based audiobooks. New Media & Society, 22(3), 470–488. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819864691
Tattersall Wallin, E. (2021). Reading by listening: Conceptualising audiobook practices in the age of streaming subscription services. Journal of Documentation, 77(2), 432–448. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2020-0098
Tattersall Wallin, E. (2022). Audiobook apps: exploring reading practices and technical affordances in the player features. Information Research, 27(4), paper 943. https://doi.org/10.47989/irpaper943 (Archived by the Internet Archive at https://bit.ly/3Wg5yqz )
Van der Westhuizen, D., & Solms, M. (2015). Basic emotional foundations of social dominance in relation to Panksepp’s affective taxonomy. Neuropsychoanalysis, 17(1), 19–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2015.1021371
Watt, D. (2017). Reflections on the neuroscientific legacy of Jaak Panksepp (1943–2017). Neuropsychoanalysis, 19(2), 183–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2017.1376549
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Henri Nerg
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
