The effects of reading narrative fiction on social and moral cognition
Two experiments following a multi-method approach
Lena Wimmer | University of Freiburg
Gregory Currie | University of York
Stacie Friend | University of London
Heather J. Ferguson | University of Kent
We present two experiments examining the effects of reading narrative fiction (vs. narrative
non-fiction vs. expository non-fiction) on social and moral cognition, using a battery of self-report, explicit
and implicit indicators. Experiment 1 (N = 340) implemented a pre-registered, randomized between-groups design,
and assessed multiple outcomes after a short reading assignment. Results failed to reveal any differences between the three
reading conditions on either social or moral cognition. Experiment 2 employed a longitudinal design. N = 104
participants were randomly assigned to read an entire book over seven days. Outcome variables were assessed before and after the
reading assignment as well as at a one-week follow-up. Results did not show any differential development between the three reading
conditions over time. The present results do not support the claim that reading narrative fiction is apt to improve our general
social and moral cognition.
Keywords: fiction, narrative, social cognition, empathy, morality
Article outline
- Introduction
- Experiment 1
- Materials and methods
- Participants
- Reading stimuli
- Assessment tasks
- State affect
- Trait empathy
- Lifetime exposure to print
- Transportation
- Emotion recognition
- Implicit morality
- Theory of mind (ToM)
- Procedure
- Data analysis
- Results
- Discussion
- Experiment 2
- Materials and methods
- Participants
- Reading stimuli
- Assessment tasks
- Affective empathy
- Emotion recognition
- Implicit morality
- Prosocial behaviour
- Procedure
- Data analysis
- Results
- Discussion
- General discussion
- Acknowledgements
- Declaration of interest statement
- Open practices statement
- Notes
-
References
Published online: 25 March 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.21010.wim
https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.21010.wim
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