Reading other minds

Abstract

The potential of literature to increase empathy was investigated in an experiment. Participants (N = 100, 69 women) completed a package of questionnaires that measured lifelong exposure to fiction and nonfiction, personality traits, and affective and cognitive empathy. They read either an essay or a short story that were equivalent in length and complexity, were tested again for cognitive and affective empathy, and were finally given a non-self-report measure of empathy. Participants who read a short story who were also low in Openness experienced significant increases in self-reported cognitive empathy (p .05). No increases in affective empathy were found. Participants who were frequent fiction-readers had higher scores on the non-self-report measure of empathy. Our results suggest a role for fictional literature in facilitating development of empathy.

Watching Closely

“…Fictional narratives create an opportunity to simulate complex social interactions and exercise everyday social cognitive skills (Mar and Oatley, 2008), as well as to understand underlying mental processes in social situations (Oatley, 2013). In line with this, recent research suggests that both lifetime (Mar, Oatley, Hirsh, dela Paz, and Peterson, 2006;Mar, Oatley, and Peterson, 2009;Mar, Tackett, and Moore, 2010) and even a single exposure (Djikic, Oatley, and Moldoveanu, 2013;Kidd and Castano, 2013) to literary fictions can enhance TOM capacity. Moreover, TOM responses seem to be sensitive to how the narrative is presented.…”

Effects of Literature on Empathy and Self-Reflection: A Theoretical-Empirical Framework

“…Other recent findings suggest that reading fiction is related to empathic ability while reading non-fiction is not (Djikic et al 2013;Mar et al 2006;Mar et al 2009). Mar et al (2006), for instance, found that readers who were more familiar with fiction, as attested to by their correct recognition of the names of fiction authors (the Author Recognition Test, ART), also had higher scores on the »Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test« (Eyes Test) in which respondents have to infer emotional states from pictures of actors' eyes.…”

“…When it comes to the impact of reading stories on empathy, several studies demonstrated positive effects on various empathic measures, like role-taking ability, motivation for pro-social behavior and altruistic conduct (Adler/Foster 1997;Bilsky 1989;Djikic/Oatley/Moldoveanu 2013;Johnson 2012;2013;Mar et al 2006;Mar et al 2009;Shapiro/Morrison/Boker 2004). In Bilsky's (1989) experiment, for instance, high school students were randomly assigned to read one of two stories, or asked to do some quiet work on their own (control group).…”

“…Affective empathy for others is not often specifically measured in empirical studies, and when it is, effects of reading narratives appear limited. Djikic et al (2013) randomly assigned respondents to read an essay or a literary short story and measured both cognitive and affective empathy, using Davis' self-report measure, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis 1980;. Respondents in the literary condition did not show greater changes in self-reported affective empathy.…”

Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano (2013)

“…Several studies have observed that familiarity with fiction is positively correlated with mentalising performance, that is, people's ability to understand the mental states of others (Djikic, Oatley, & Moldoveanu, 2013;Mar, Oatley, Hirsh, dela Paz, & Peterson, 2006;Mar, Oatley, & Peterson, 2009). These correlational findings suggest that reading fiction and mentalising may involve overlapping cognitive abilities.…”