Vitros Editorial Team/1 min read
Reading fiction helps you understand people
Across 14 studies, reading fiction led to a small improvement in understanding what other people think and feel.
Reading fiction led to a small improvement in understanding what other people think and feel.
The study
This meta-analysis combined experimental results from 14 studies. Compared with reading nonfiction or not reading, reading fiction led to a small but statistically significant improvement on tasks that measure understanding of other people's thoughts and feelings. The effect held up across checks for bias. The authors call for research on whether it carries over into everyday social life.
Starting small
A short story or a few pages of a novel can be a gentle evening habit. Choosing fiction some of the time is an easy way to try it.
Topics
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References
1. Dodell-Feder, Tamir (2017). Fiction reading has a small positive impact on social cognition: A meta-analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.