I love fiction. I love working with coaching clients writing their novels. And from easy-breezy beach reads to literary fiction masterpieces, I love reading or listening to a novel, and submerging into the story.
Not everyone feels that way. I have a number of friends who boast that they exclusively read nonfiction. Invariably, they go on to specify that they only opt for books that will help them.
Now I also happen to love nonfiction, which tends to be what I write. So I would never want to choose between fiction and nonfiction, just as I wouldn’t want to designate a favorite child. Still, I was downright delighted by a Discover Magazine article that focused on how reading fiction increases empathy and encourages understanding.
“Would the world be a better place if people read more books?” the article’s lead asks. If they’re reading novels, the answer, as you’ll see from the excerpt below, is yes:
“Of course, asserting that reading can fix the world’s problems would be naive at best. But it could help make it a more empathetic place. 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.
“‘That’s because literary fiction is essentially an exploration of the human experience,’ says Keith Oatley, a novelist and professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto.
“’Reading novels enables us to become better at actually understanding other people and what they’re up to,’ says Oatley. ‘[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.'”
Not just any fiction will do. While a romance or mystery might be the perfect escape during difficult times like those we’re in right now, five studies written about in a 2013 Scientific American article reveal that literary fiction is what tips the scale when it comes to heightening understanding of others’ thoughts and emotions:
“When study participants read non-fiction or nothing, their results were unimpressive. When they read excerpts of genre fiction, such as Danielle Steel’s The Sins of the Mother, their test results were dually insignificant. However, when they read literary fiction, such as The Round House by Louise Erdrich, their test results improved markedly—and, by implication, so did their capacity for empathy.”
That’s not all, according to a March, 2020 Harvard Business Review article:
“Recent research in neuroscience suggests that … reading literary fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind, and critical thinking. [In addition, studies show that] reading literary fiction is an effective way to enhance the brain’s ability to keep an open mind while processing information, a necessary skill for effective decision-making.”
So the next time you want to pick up a self-help book, you just might want to consider opting for a little literary fiction.
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