Reading interest in a digital age

The era of “digital literacy” raises the question of whether the meaning of reading interest may have changed. This study examined psycho-behavioral dimensions of reading interest as these relate to different reading modes and different purposes of reading. Findings show that reading interest is best represented by its subcomponents of psycho-behavioral dimensions. Higher-order factor structures indicate a general factor of reading interest at the third-order level and five second-order factors representing reading in print settings, online reading, social media reading, academic reading, and recreational reading. We conclude with implications for future research on the psychological meaning of reading.