Can reading fiction story make you more empathetic?

Reading fictional stories has been found to be associated with the development of empathy in children, suggesting that there is an important link between the empathy felt for fictional characters and the ability to empathise with people in reality (Adrian, Clemente, Villaneuva & Rieffe, 2005; Aram & Aviram, 2009; Mar.

How does reading make you more empathetic?

And a growing body of research has found that people who read fiction tend to better understand and share in the feelings of others — even those who are different from themselves. “Reading novels enables us to become better at actually understanding other people and what they’re up to,” says Oatley.

How does fiction relate to empathy?

Study 1 provides first evidence that fiction reading causes empathic skills to increase over time when the reader becomes emotionally transported into the story, while the reverse occurs when the fiction reader does not become transported at all: then the reader actually becomes less empathic.

How does the reading of fiction enhance our understanding of human nature?

Fiction helps you understand other people’s perspectives When you read fiction, you’re seeing the world through a character’s eyes. Watching a character interact with the world around them is powerful. It allows you to understand perspectives you’ve never seen before, both psychological and physical.

What are the benefits of reading fiction?

The Benefits of Reading Fiction

• Reading fiction helps children learn to interpret and infer.
• Reading fiction aids creativity.
• Reading fiction makes us more empathetic.
• All reading builds vocabulary.
• Reading fiction can help our children socialize.
• Reading fiction helps children learn to focus.

Does fiction help us understand being human?

“People who read more fiction were better at empathy and understanding others,” Oatley said. A 2013 study in the American Psychological Association’s journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts found that the process of imagining scenes while reading led to an increase in empathy and prosocial behavior.

Is reading fiction beneficial?

Reading fiction provides mental stimulation which helps with memory, vocabulary, and focus. When reading, we put ourselves into the mind of the characters. This can help develop empathy and emotional intelligence. There are so many benefits of reading books they are almost too great to count.

How does reading make you a better person?

Reading makes you feel happier with yourself and your life. Readers reported being less stressed and less depressed, and having higher levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with challenges.

Why is fiction better for learning about the world?

To put yourself in the shoes of others and grow your capacity for empathy, you can hardly do better than reading fiction. Multiple studies have shown that imagining stories helps activate the regions of your brain responsible for better understanding others and seeing the world from a new perspective.

Why is fiction important to humanity?

Reading fiction helps make us human. Literature connects us to and deepens our understanding of other people—their needs, desires, and motivations. It helps us get in touch with our own feelings. It introduces us to people and places we would not otherwise know.

Why reading fiction makes you a better person?

Fiction can help readers understand what others are thinking by reading other people’s emotions, according to research published in Science. This makes them more empathetic towards others, with greater respect for others’ beliefs and desires.

Does reading fiction help us practice empathy?

But in this study, authors David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castono argue that literary fiction helps people practice empathy because of its complexity, too. Because it requires more mental processing, readers of literary fiction are tasked with interpretation or critical thinking.

Can reading fiction help you make friends?

“ [With] someone who you’re married to or a close friend, you can actually get to know them. Reading fiction enables you to sample across a much wider range of possible people and come to understand something about the differences among them.” Psychologists have found that empathy is innate, as even babies show it.

Why do we love fiction so much?

A new body of research is emerging to explain how books have such a powerful emotional pull on us, and the answer du jour is surprising—when we step into a fictional world, we treat the experiences as if they were real. Adding to the endless list of reading benefits is this: Reading fiction literally makes you more empathetic in real life.

Does reading build social awareness and empathy?

The notion that reading is a valuable skill for building social awareness and empathy is echoed by many authors who know and love this magical, important part of reading. In an interview with Lit Hub, author Sunil Yapa says, “Empathy is a radical act, particularly when you use it to connect with people who are very different from you.