I recently read an article in Scientific American and would like to
share its findings. In 2013, social psychologists at the New
School in New York City performed a study on literature
and empathy. The study was also mentioned in one of the craft talks this summer
at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers conference.
Study participants were divided into
one of three groups. Each group read excerpts of either literary fiction,
commercial fiction, such as a book by Danielle Steele, or serious nonfiction.
Participants were then asked to describe their emotional states and look at
photos of people to describe how the people in the photos were feeling.
What do you think the outcome was? Think about it for a minute.
Participants who read literary
fiction tested markedly better on empathy and understanding; the test results
for the two other groups were unimpressive. The author of the article
summarizes: “Literary fiction, by contrast, focuses
more on the psychology of characters and their relationships; the characters disrupt reader expectations, undermining
prejudices and stereotypes. . . to teach us values about social behavior, such
as the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves.”
Yet
today, I’m afraid the emphasis in our world is moving toward nonfiction and “practical”
reading. Are we a society focusing on activities that get results versus
spending time on idle pursuits such as reading serious fiction? Happily, the
above study and more like it have challenged some of these barriers. To share two more
statistics: last year, the Pew Research Center reported nearly one quarter of
Americans did not read a book in 2013. On a better note, the National Endowment of the Arts reported over half of Americans read books for pleasure
in 2012 (I prefer the latter!).
So does
this mean I have to shelve my weekly New Yorker since I’m months behind anyway?
Absolutely not! I find their nonfiction quite enlightening and moving. From now
on, perhaps I’ll just first turn to fiction! And I wonder: does writing fiction
help us to be more empathetic? I believe so. I can’t describe exactly how, but
writing my novel for nearly ten years and immersing myself into my characters’
struggles have made me more in tune with the stories I hear in my work as a
physical therapist. So, please read on!
Writing
Prompt: Share a favorite novel or two. After reading, did you
experience a change in your thinking? What characters stayed with you?
