The Empathy Effect – Lingua Franca - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Researchers David Kidd and Emanuele Castano have been tying reading to a specific outcome that many feel is woefully lacking in our political life—empathy. Fortunately, they are fairly precise about their definition of empathy, placing it in the context of “Theory of Mind,” (ToM); that is, “the human capacity to comprehend that other people hold beliefs and desires...that may differ from one’s own beliefs and desires. In particular, they have linked the growth of empathy to the reading of literary fiction, which, more than reading genre fiction, nonfiction, or nothing at all, appears in their test scores to promote more empathy in readers of all persuasions than the other choices."

Ferriss. L. (2017, Apr. 2). The Empathy Effect. Retrieved from http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/04/02/the-empathy-effect/