Cover not available
Article published In:
Scientific Study of Literature
Vol. 8:2 (2018) ► pp.261–292

Relationships between fiction media, genre, and empathic abilities

| Kingston University
| Kingston University
Fiction enables readers to simulate the social experiences of characters and may facilitate prosociality. Research has indicated that fiction print exposure positively relates to empathy and may promote altruistic behaviors. Whether associations hold across different media formats and thematic genres remains unclear. This study took a multidimensional approach to both fiction engagement and empathic abilities. Specifically, it aimed to replicate previous findings that lifetime fiction exposure positively predicts empathy, and to extend this literature through an exploration of the relationships between media and genre formats, empathy and altruism. Participants (N = 404) completed a multidimensional task measure of fiction media exposure and answered questions about fiction engagement, empathic and altruistic tendencies. Results showed divergent associations between fiction format, genre, and empathic abilities, and fiction media exposure positively predicted the tendencies to become transported into narratives and to help others. Engagement with fiction formats and thematic genres may differentially support adults’ prosocial development.
Keywords: fiction exposure, narrative engagement, empathy, altruism, prosocial behavior, author recognition test
Article outline
  • Fiction effects on empathic abilities
  • Modes of fiction engagement
  • Literary and genre fiction
  • Toward a multidimensional approach
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Materials
      • Fiction media exposure
      • Empathic abilities
        • Altruism
        • Empathy
      • Media and genre preferences
      • Acting
      • Control variables
      • Demand characteristics
    • Procedure
    • Data analysis
  • Results
    • Demographic variables
    • Fiction media exposure
      • Regression analyses
    • Genre and media preferences
    • Acting experience
  • Discussion
    • Fiction-engagement content and processes
    • Limitations and future research
    • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.19003.tur
References (98)
References
Acheson, D. J., Wells, J. B., & MacDonald, M. C. (2008). New and updated tests of print exposure and reading abilities in college students. Behavior Research Methods, 401, 278–289. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Appel, M., & Richter, T. (2007). Persuasive effects of fictional narratives increase over time. Media Psychology, 101, 113–134.Google Scholar
Aykan, S., & Nalçacı, E. (2018). Assessing theory of mind by humor: The Humor Comprehension and Appreciation Test (ToM-HCAT). Frontiers in Psychology, 91, 1470. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bal, P. M. & Veltkamp, M. (2013). How does fiction reading influence empathy? An experimental investigation of the role of emotional transportation. PLoSOne, 8(1), DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 421, 241–251. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baron-Cohen, S. & Wheelwright, S. J. (2004). The empathy quotient. An investigation of adults with Asperger Syndrome or High Functioning Autism, and normal sex differences. Autism and Developmental Disorders, 341, 163–175. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Batson, C. D., Duncan, B. D., Ackerman, P., Buckley, T. & Birch, K. (1981). Is empathic emotion a source of altruistic motivation? Personality and Social Psychology, 401, 290–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Batson, C. D., Early, S. & Salvarani, G. (1997). Perspective-taking: Imagining how another would feel versus imagining how you would feel. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 231, 751–758. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry, 21, 107–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Black, J. E., & Barnes, J. L. (2015a). Fiction and social cognition: The effect of viewing award-winning television dramas on theory of mind. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 91, 355–494. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015b). The effects of reading material on social and non-social cognition. Poetics, 521, 32–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Black, J. E., Capps, S. C., & Barnes, J. L. (2018). Fiction, genre exposure and moral reality. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 12(13), 328–340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bormann, D., & Greitemeyer, T. (2015). Immersed in virtual worlds and minds: effects of in-game storytelling on immersion, need satisfaction, and affective theory of mind. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 61, 646–652. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017). American Time Use Survey – 2016 Results. Retrieved from: [URL]
Busselle, R., & Bilandzic, H. (2009). Measuring narrative engagement. Media Psychology, 121, 321–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Castano, E. (2012). Anti-social behavior in individuals and groups: an empathy-focused approach. In K. Deux & M. Snyder (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of personality and social psychology (pp. 419–445). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Coll, M., Viding, E., Rütgen, M., Silani, G., Lamm, C., Catmur, C. & Bird, G. (2017). Are we really measuring empathy? Proposal for a new measurement framework. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 831, 132–139. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 101, 85. Retrieved from: [URL]
Davis, M. H., Mitchell, K. V., Hall, J. A., Lothert, J., Snapp, T. & Meyer, M. (1999). Empathy, expectations, and situational preferences: Personality influences on the decision to participate in volunteer helping behaviors. Personality, 671, 469–503. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Mulder, H. N. M., Hakemulder, F., van den Berghe, R., Klassen, F., & Berkum, J. J. A. (2017). Effects of exposure to literary narrative fiction: From book smart to street smart? Scientific Study of Literature, 71, 129–169. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Djikic, M. & Oatley, K. (2014). The art in fiction: From indirect communication to changes in the self, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 81, 498–505. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dodell-Feder, D. & Tamir, D. I. (2018). Fiction reading has a small positive impact on social cognition: A meta-analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1471, 1713–1727. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duval, C., Piolino, P., Bejanin, A., Eustache, F., & Desgranges, B. (2010). Age effects on different components of theory of mind. Consciousness and Cognition 201, 627–642. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Felisberti, F. M., & King, R. (2017). Mindreading in altruists and psychopaths. In A. Ibáñez, L. Sedeño & A. García (Eds.), Neuroscience and social science: The missing link (pp. 121–140). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fong, K., Mullin, J. B., & Mar, R. A. (2013). What you read matters: The role of fiction genre in predicting interpersonal sensitivity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 71, 370–376. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gabriel, S., & Young, A. F. (2011). Becoming a vampire without being bitten: The narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis. Psychological Science, 221, 990–994. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C. A., Yukawa, S., Ihori, N., Saleem, M., Lim, K. M., … Sakamoto, A. (2009). The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: International evidence from correlational, longitudinal and experimental studies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 351, 752–763. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gerrig, R. (1993). Experiencing narrative worlds. On the psychological activities of reading. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Goldman, A. I. (2006). Simulating minds. The philosophy, psychology and neuroscience of mindreading. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, T., & Winner, E. (2012). Enhancing empathy and theory of mind. Cognition and Development, 131, 19–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, T., Wu, K., and Winner, E. (2009). Actors are skilled in theory of mind but not empathy. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 291, 115–133. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Green, M. C. & Brock, T. C. (2000). The Role of Transportation in the Persuasiveness of Public Narratives. Personality and Social Psychology, 791, 701–721. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002). In the mind’s eye: Transportation-imagery model of narrative persuasion. In M. C. Green, J. J. Strange, & T. C. Brock (Eds.) Narrative impact: social and cognitive foundations (pp. 315–341). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Hall, A. E. & Bracken, C. C. (2011). “I really liked that movie”: Testing the relationship between trait empathy, transportation, perceived realism and movie enjoyment. Media Psychology, 231, 90–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Happé, F. G. E. (1994). An advanced test of theory of mind: Understanding story characters’ thoughts and feelings by able Autistic, mentally Handicapped, and normal children and adults. Autism and Developmental Disorders, 241, 129–154. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Happé, F. G. E., Winner, E., & Brownell, H. (1998). The getting of wisdom: theory of mind and old age. Developmental Psychology, 341, 358–362. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heide, F. J., Porter, N., & Saito, P. K. (2012). Do you hear the people sing? Musical theatre and attitude change. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 61, 224–230. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Winners and Nominees Best Motion Picture (n.d.). [URL] Accessed 26.05.17.
Hsu, C., Conrad, M., & Jacobs, A. M. (2014). Fiction Feelings in Harry Potter: haemodynamic responses in the mid-cingulate cortex correlates with immersive reading experience. Neuroport, 251, 1356–1361. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ickes, W. (Ed.). (1997). Empathic accuracy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, D. R. (2012). Transportation into a story increases empathy, prosocial behavior, and perceptual bias toward fearful expressions. Personality and Individual Differences, 521, 150–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Keen, S. (2007). Empathy and the novel. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science, 3421, 377–380. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kidd, D., & Castano, E. (2017a). Panero et al. (2016): Failure to replicate methods caused failure to replicate results. Personality and Social Psychology, 1121, e–e4. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017b). Different stories: How levels of familiarity with literary and genre fiction relate to mentalizing. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 111, 474–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018a). Reading literary fiction and theory of mind: Three preregistered replications and extensions of Kidd and Castano (2013). Social Psychological and Personality Science, 201, 1–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018b). Reading literary fiction can improve theory of mind. Nature Human Behavior, 21, 604, DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klimecki, O. M., Mayer, S. V., Jusyte, A., Scheeff, J., & Schönenberg, M. (2016). Empathy promotes altruistic behavior in economic interactions. Scientific Reports, 6(31961), 1–5. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Konrath, S. (2013). Critical synthesis package: Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). MedEdPORTAL, 9(9596). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koopman, E. M. (2015). Empathic reactions after reading. The role of genre, personal factors and affective responses. Poetics, 501, 62–79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016). Effects of “literariness” on emotions and on empathy and reflection after reading. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 101, 82–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lehne, M., Engel, P., Rohrmeier, M., Menninghaus, M., Jacobs, A. M., & Koelsch, S. (2015). Reading a suspenseful literary text activates brain areas related to social cognition and predictive inference. PLoSOne, 10(5), 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Zhang, S., & Hong, S. (1999). Sample size in factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 41, 84–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mangen, A., & Kuiken, D. (2014). Lost in an iPad: Narrative engagement on paper and tablet. Scientific Study of Literature, 41, 150–177. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mar, R. A., & Oatley, K. (2008). The function of fiction is the abstraction and simulation of social experience. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 31, 173–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., Hirsch, J., dela Paz, J. & Peterson, J. B. (2006). Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds. Research in Personality, 401, 694–712. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., & Peterson, J. B. (2009). Exploring the link between reading fiction and empathy: Ruling out individual differences and examining outcomes. Communications, 341, 407–428. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mar, R., Tackett, J. L., & Moore, C. (2010). Exposure to media and theory-of-mind development in preschoolers. Cognitive Development, 251, 69–78. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maylor, E. A., Moulson, J. M., Muncer, A. M., & Taylor, L. A. (2002). Does performance on theory of mind tasks decline in old age? British Journal of Psychology, 931, 465–485. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McLuhan, M. (1964/1994). Understanding media: The extensions of man. (Rev. ed.) MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
McQuail, D. (2010). Mass communication theory: An introduction. London, England: Sage.Google Scholar
Miesen, H. (2004). Fiction readers’ appreciation of text attributes in literary and popular novels: Some empirical findings. International Journal of Arts Management, 71, 45–56.Google Scholar
Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print-exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 1371, 267–296. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mumper, M. L., & Gerrig, R. J. (2017). Leisure reading and social cognition: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 111, 109–120. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
National Theatre. NT 2000: The Most Significant Plays of the 20th Century (n.d.). [URL] Accessed 09.06.2016
Nell, V. (1988). The psychology of reading for pleasure: Needs and gratifications. Reading Research Quarterly, 231, 6–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nettle, D. (2006). Psychological profiles of professional actors. Personality and Individual Differences, 401, 376–383. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
New York Theater. The 50 best plays of past 100 years. (2013). [URL] Accessed 26.05.17.
Nussbaum, M. (2010). Not for profit. Why democracy needs the humanities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Oatley, K. (1999). Meetings of minds: Dialogue, sympathy, and identification, in reading fiction. Poetics, 261, 439–454. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016). Fiction: Simulation of social worlds. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 201, 618–628. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paal, T., & Bereczkei, T. (2007). Adult theory of mind, cooperation, Machiavellianism: The effect of mindreading on social relations. Personality and Individual Differences, 431, 541–551. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Panero, M. E., Weisberg, D. S., Black, J., Goldstein, T. R., Barnes, J. L., Brownell, H., & Winner, E. (2016). Does reading a single passage of literary fiction really improve theory of mind? An attempt at replication. Personality and Social Psychology, 1111, 46–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017). No support for the claim that literary fiction uniquely and immediately improves theory of mind: A reply to Kidd and Castano’s commentary on Panero, Weisberg, Black, Goldstein, Barnes, Brownell & Winner (2016). Personality and Social Psychology, 1121, e5–e8. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Penner, L. A., Fritzsche, B. A., Craiger, J. P., & Freifeld, T. R. (1995). Measuring the prosocial personality. In J. Butcher & C. D. Spielberger (Eds.) Advances in personality assessment (Vol. 101.). Hillsdale, NJ: LEA.Google Scholar
Perner, J., & Wimmer, H. (1985). “John thinks that Mary thinks that”: Attribution of second-order beliefs by 5- to 10-year old children. Experimental Child Psychology, 391, 437–471. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pino, M. C., & Mazza, M. (2016). The use of “literary fiction” to promote mentalizing ability. PloSONE 11(8). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rushton, J. P., Chrisjohn, R. D., & Fekken, G. C. (1981). The altruistic personality and the self-report altruism scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 292–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Samur, D., Tops, M., & Koole, S. L. (2018). Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano (2013). Cognition and Emotion, 321, 130–144. doi DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schellenberg, E. G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 151, 511–514. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seddon, C. (2011). Lifestyles and social participation. Retrieved from Office for National Statistics: [URL]. DOI logo
Singer, T., & Lamm, C. (2009). The social neuroscience of empathy. New York Academy of Sciences, 11561, 91–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Speer, N. K., Reynolds, J. R., Swallow, K. M., & Zacks, J. M. (2009). Reading stories activates neural representations of visual and motor experiences. Psychological Science, 201, 989–999. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (1989). Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly, 241, 402–433. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K. E., West, R. F., & Harrison, M. R. (1995). Knowledge growth and maintenance across the life span: the role of print exposure. Developmental Psychology, 311, 811–826. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stephens-Hernandez, A. B., Livingston, J. N., Dacons-Brock, K., Craft, H. L., Cameron, A., Franklin, S. O., & Howlett, A. C. (2007). Drama-based education to motivate participation in substance abuse prevention. Substance Abuse Treatment Prevention Policy, 21, 1–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M., & Carlson, S. M. (1997). The relationship between individual differences in fantasy and theory of mind. Child Development, 681, 436–455. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Turner, R. & Felisberti, F. M. (2017). Measuring Mindreading: A review of behavioral approaches to measuring “theory of mind” in neurologically typical adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 81, 47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Valente, T. W., & Bharath, U. (1999). An evaluation of the use of drama to communicate HIV/AIDS information. Education and Prevention, 111, 203–211. Retrieved from [URL]
Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Walther, J. B. (2016). Media effects: theory and research. Annual Review of Psychology, 671, 315–338. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wai, M., & Tiliopoulos, N. (2012). The affective and cognitive empathic nature of the dark triad of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 521, 794–799. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wallentin, M., Nielsen, A. H., Vuust, P., Dohn, A., Roepstorff, A., & Lund, T. E. (2011). BOLD response to motion verbs in left posterior middle temporal gyrus during story comprehension. Brain & Language, 1191, 221–225. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Winner, E., Brownell, H., Happé, F., Blum, A., & Pincus, D. (1998). Distinguishing lies from jokes: Theory of mind deficits and discourse interpretation in right hemisphere brain-damaged patients. Brain and Language, 621, 89–106. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zaki, J., & Ochsner, K. (2012). The neuroscience of empathy: progress, pitfalls and promise. Nature Neuroscience, 151, 675–680. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zillman, D. (1988). Mood management through communication choices. American Behavioral Scientist, 311, 327–340. Retrieved from [URL]
Zunshine, L. (2006). Why we read fiction: theory of mind and the novel. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by (8)

Cited by eight other publications

Antonini, Alessio, Sam Brooker & Lovro Škopljanac
2024. Spontaneous transmedia co-location: Integration in memory. Memory, Mind & Media 3 DOI logo
Bortolotti, Alessandro, Alice Conti, Angelo Romagnoli & Pier Luigi Sacco
2024. Imagination vs. routines: festive time, weekly time, and the predictive brain. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 18 DOI logo
Christiansen, Charlotte E.
2023. Does Fiction Reading Make Us Better People? Empathy and Morality in a Literary Empowerment Programme. Ethnos 88:5 ► pp. 994 ff. DOI logo
Noon, Edward John & Rose Turner
2022. The European Federation of Psychology Students’ Associations Junior Researcher Programme: A Reflection from two Research Project Supervisors. PsyPag Quarterly 1:122 ► pp. 44 ff. DOI logo
Nicholes, Justin
2020. Science fiction prototyping’s features and impact on college students’ perceptions of writing. Scientific Study of Literature 10:1 ► pp. 98 ff. DOI logo
Turner, Rose & Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau
2020. Fiction effects on social cognition. Scientific Study of Literature 10:1 ► pp. 64 ff. DOI logo
Turner, Rose & Frédéric Vallée‐Tourangeau
2023. Challenges of measuring empathic accuracy: A mentalizing versus experience‐sharing paradigm. British Journal of Social Psychology 62:2 ► pp. 972 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Creative Writing Across the Curriculum [Linguistic Approaches to Literature, 40], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.