Kids and adults have been fascinated with the "Harry Potter" series since the first book's release in the late '90s.

The series has been the subject of numerous studies, books and college courses exploring different aspects of how the wizarding world can explain our experience in the real world.

Because of the books' intense popularity, there's a chance for broader discussions about their themes and how they've influenced the generation that grew up reading them.

Here are some of the subjects people have studied surrounding the Harry Potter phenomenon:

Personality

New research has found a link between the Hogwarts houses that Harry Potter fans identify with and their personality traits.

The study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, asked Harry Potter fans who were sorted into houses using a quiz on the Pottermore website to also take a personality test.

In general, the results indicated that fans sorted into a particular house embodied the traits most often associated with that house. And those who wanted to be in a certain house, whether they were sorted there or not, also reflected the personality traits of that house, suggesting some element of self-selection.

Slytherins, the books' villains, showed the "Dark Triad traits" of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Ravenclaws, the bookworms, displayed a "need for cognition." Hufflepuffs were the most agreeable, reflecting the "need to belong."

Gryffindors, however, didn't conform to the assumed qualities of "extraversion and openness."

The findings reflect the idea that identifying with fictional characters can influence our thinking in real ways.

Psychology

Here's another example of how reading can shape real-life views.

A 2014 study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology suggested that children and young adults who read about the struggles of the stigmatized groups in "Harry Potter" had less prejudice and better attitudes toward actual marginalized groups.

Reading about these fictional groups helped improve empathy toward "out-groups," those the reader doesn't identify with.

Politics

A book published in 2013 argues that the Harry Potter books and movies have had a big influence on the political views of millennials.

A survey of college students showed that fans of Harry Potter "tend be more open to diversity; politically tolerant; less authoritarian; less likely to support the use of deadly force or torture; more politically active; and are more likely to have a negative view of the Bush administration."

It's an interesting take on how our entertainment, something that's often not inherently political, at least on the surface, affects our attitudes.

--Nora Simon
nsimon@oregonian.com
503-294-7607
@noramsimon