A new study saw a link from reading “chick lit” with effects on women’s self-esteem. According to the Washington Post, the study, conducted at Virginia Tech, revealed a direct correlation between a protagonist’s relationship with her weight or body image and how the reader will feel about him- or herself. The study took excerpts from Laura Jensen Walker’s “Dreaming in Black and White” and Emily Griffin’s “Something Borrowed,” rewriting passages to change elements of the protagonist’s body and self-image. The rewrites included characters who were overweight and insecure, slim and insecure, overweight and secure, and slim and secure. Also included were passages that removed all reference to size and self-esteem. 

One hundred and fifty women participated in the study. They were asked to read the passages and then rate how they felt about themselves after each passage. The study revealed that, of the women participating, those who read about the heavier characters felt more self-assured about their appearance. Conversely, those who read about the thinner protagonists seemed to become less self-assured. Those who read about insecure characters, in turn, felt more self-conscious about their weight. The study seems to suggest a correlation between reading and self-confidence similar to that of media images and self-esteem in women.

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-11/national/37033599_1_body-image-low-self-esteem-novels