Main character syndrome may be the key to psychological well-being. A paper recently published in the Journal of Research in Personality reported that people who described themselves as major characters in their own lives — as opposed to minor characters, side characters, or background characters — showed healthier well-being and a more holistic fulfillment of their core psychological needs.

The TikTok-ification of language is coming in hot for this one. What this basically means is that people who see themselves as in control of their destiny or have higher self-esteem are more likely to advocate for themselves than those who feel like they have less agency over their lives, who are more likely to let themselves be “swept about by external forces (and other people).”

The paper consisted of three studies that surveyed a total of 982 undergraduate students. The first study asked students to rate themselves from 1 to 5 on the scale of minor, side, or background character to major, primary, or lead character and to measure their well-being. Students in the second study were asked to recall a memory where they felt like a major character and a memory where they felt like a minor character, with their satisfaction levels being assessed both before and after recalling those memories. The third asked students to describe three goals, their motivations, levels of satisfaction, and character perceptions.

The findings: Students who assessed themselves as main characters showed more agency in the outcome of their lives, and were more likely to pursue goals due to higher levels of motivation, believing that external factors had less influence on them than their own influence.

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