Those Who Read Fiction Better at Reading People
"Books say: she did this because. Life says: she did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't."
A study published in the Journal of Research in Personality and led by Raymond
Mar
found that people who read narrative fiction often have improved social
abilities, while for those who read non-fiction, the opposite holds true
"Stories often force us to empathize with characters who are quite different
from us, and this ability could help us better understand the many kinds of
people we come across in the real world."
People who frequently read narrative fiction scored higher on tests of both
empathy
and social acumen
Frequent reading of non-fiction was associated with poorer empathy and social acumen.
Why is Fiction Reading Good for Social Awareness
First
it exposes people to examples of the way people behave socially
Second
readers practice inferring people's intentions and closely watching their
relationships
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