Existential reflection and morality

Abstract

This paper presents a series of three studies describing how reading literature promotes empathy and moral outcomes. We add three contrasts to this field of empirical study: (a) an explanatory and interpretative form of narrative reading engagement (Integrative Comprehension) is contrasted with an expressive and explicative form of aesthetic reading engagement (Expressive Enactment); (b) an explanatory and interpretive form of cognitive perspective-taking (a component of Integrative Comprehension) is distinguished from an expressive and explicative form of empathy (a component of Expressive Enactment); and (c) a local form of moral outcome (involving changes in attitude toward a specific group or outgroup) is distinguished from a global form of moral outcome (involving an inclusive respect for human subjectivity). These contrasts are clarified and contextualized within existential-phenomenological discussions of sense-giving lived experience, agency, and morality. In conclusion, we offer a framework that specifies the potential impact on wellbeing of a form of literary reading that involves existential reflection, especially as conceived within the emerging field of existential positive psychology.

What if Hitler had won WWII and met Kennedy in 1964? Perception and evaluation of counterfactual historical fiction

“…As intergroup prejudice and intolerance are at the heart of the fascistic ideology, the results of our study might show this tendency even after short-term exposure to literature. Our result may also point to a recent study of Sopcak et al ( 2022 ) which showed that reading literature involving integrative comprehension lowers local moral attitude such as racism. Lowering of superstition might relate to the enhancement of critical thinking that has been shown in previous studies (Bird, 1984 ; Lehman and Hayes, 1985 ; Brown, 1986 ; Rieken and Miller, 1990 ; Block, 1993 ; Tabačková, 2015 ).…”