Am not the OP, however, I have similar observations too. I noted that people who read fiction often handle various life's situations better. My hypothesis is that this would be because they get broader exposure to life's situations than what non-fiction books deliver in practice.
I wish there were a lot more non-fiction books dealing with common and uncommon life's situations, which step out of the theory towards what actually happens in practice.
Love and relationships, rejection, failures, etc. When I was in middle to high school, I had no good understanding on how to handle these. Later too, have struggled with some situations. There have been situations that were nowhere talked about in any coursework and are somewhat rare that many people do not have experience with them. Movies sometimes talk about various situations, however, deal lesser with practical situations. I found that a few people around who understood these better and were known to be more mature had all been reading fiction books from middle school.
I wish there were a lot more non-fiction books dealing with common and uncommon life's situations, which step out of the theory towards what actually happens in practice.