Reading about minds: The social-cognitive potential of narratives

Abstract

It is often argued that narratives improve social cognition, either by appealing to social-cognitive abilities as we engage with the story world and its characters, or by conveying social knowledge. Empirical studies have found support for both a correlational and a causal link between exposure to (literary, fictional) narratives and social cognition. However, a series of failed replications has cast doubt on the robustness of these claims. Here, we review the existing empirical literature and identify open questions and challenges. An important conclusion of the review is that previous research has given too little consideration to the diversity of narratives, readers, and social-cognitive processes involved in the social-cognitive potential of narratives. We therefore establish a research agenda, proposing that future research should focus on (1) the specific text characteristics that drive the social-cognitive potential of narratives, (2) the individual differences between readers with respect to their sensitivity to this potential, and (3) the various aspects of social cognition that are potentially affected by reading narratives. Our recommendations can guide the design of future studies that will help us understand how, for whom, and in what respect exposure to narratives can advantage social cognition.

Paths to transformation across contemporary reading practices: The role of motivations and genre preferences.

“…The first category pertains to effects on the self, such as modification of personal meanings (Fialho, 2012;Sikora et al, 2011;Tangerås, 2020) and changes in the self-concept (Sestir & Green, 2010). The second category concerns effects toward others, such as sociocognitive abilities (Eekhof et al, 2022) and empathy (Koopman, 2018). In this study, we focus on the first macrocategory.…”

“…A growing body of research focuses on the transformative effects of reading fiction (Fialho, 2019;Tangerås, 2020), often articulating these effects in terms of self-modifying feelings or self-altering experiences (Kuiken & Sopčák, 2021). Several findings indicate that reading fiction can lead to shifts in self-understanding (Djikic & Oatley, 2014;Sikora et al, 2011;Tangerås, 2020) and enhanced social cognition (Eekhof et al, 2022;Kidd & Castano, 2013), i.e., it deepens the perception of both self and others. However, if one considers the media ecology of current reading practices, empirical research on transformative effects of reading and the conditions under which it occurs has so far only focused on a limited section of the reading phenomenon.…”

Reading Engagement Matters! A New Scale to Measure and Support Children's Engagement with Books

“…Collectively, these four dimensions of reading engagement are associated with a wide range of rich and diverse reader outcomes, including academic (e.g., reading and language: e.g., Mol & Bus, 2011, Torppa et al., 2019) and social and emotional (e.g. empathy, reduced prejudice, well‐being: e.g., Clark & Teravainen‐Goff, 2018; Eekhof et al., 2022; McGeown & Wilkinson, 2021). However, to date, there is a surprising lack of research focused on understanding reading engagement, compared to reading motivation, a conceptually similar, but distinct construct.…”

Does reading about fictional minds make us more curious about real ones?

“…Methodological concerns. In addition to the failed replications, experiments on this topic have been the subject of various critiques (for an overview, see Eekhof et al, 2022). For example, a p-curve analysis of the experiments reported by Kidd and Castano (2013) found that they lacked evidential value (van Kuijk et al, 2018).…”

“…An alternative account is that reading a short narrative does not affect readers’ ability to understand others but rather their interest or motivation to do so (Carpenter et al, 2018; Djikic et al, 2013; Samur et al, 2018). Exposure to fiction may put readers in a mental mode oriented toward people and their mental states (Mar, 2018), or place them in the “mood for mindreading” (Eekhof et al, 2022, p. 7). In line with these ideas, we hypothesize that reading a narrative might temporarily increase readers’ social curiosity, that is, their interest in “the way other people behave, think, and feel” (Renner, 2006, p. 305) and in “gaining new information and knowledge about the social world” (Renner, 2006, p. 306).…”