Does reading increase empathy?

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Wonderful Julia Donaldson on radio 4 this morning said that reading books means you can get inside the mind of the author or different characters. This made me wonder if it then helps us see things from other people's perspective does it mean we are likely to be more empathetic? Any thoughts?

Yes, apparently it does. But only if it's reading fiction. Studies have been done on it.

I suppose it depends on what you’re reading, doesn’t it? If you’re just reading the Daily Mail or a load of stuff that reinforces your confirmation bias, then it doesn’t widen your worldview, it narrows it.

@Hello39 that's really interesting. I'll have a Google for the studies.

Well that's a very good point @DeadBugMountainClimber I guess Julia D was talking about fiction.

didn't work that way with my kids. To cut a long story short, 3 older ones were bookworms, youngest had screens & always had to be cajoled to read anything.

They are adults/nearly adults now.

Oldest is least kind or sympathetic, 2nd can be narcissistic, 3rd is very sensitive but has no empathy for others.

Youngest is super kind & considerate "Adults love me!" he muses.

Yes.

Think about little kids, feeling how scared little red riding hood is, or how sad the little bear is. They've never had their porridge stolen or their granny eaten, one hopes, but they learn that that is scary or sad, they get a glimpse of someone else's life and how that would feel. That's the basis of empathy

I'd say so. I got the train there about 30 years ago and felt sorry for the poor buggers who had to live there. Although it was 30 years ago, the town might have improved since.

Only if you are already a person with pre existing empathy. You could be reading hate text. The act of reading alone cannot make anybody have empathy but children can offer other insights about the human condition, both good and bad.

Wrong thread?

I’ve never looked at exactly what the studies concluded, what the control group was, what material was being read, were the tested children or adults etc, but having spent my professional life as an academic in Eng Lit, I can’t say I notice us being any more empathetic than anyone else.

Wondered if it was a quote from a book that had helped the poster in their empathy development 😊

I read voraciously as a child (no siblings/moved around Europe regularly/no TV because my dad thought they were bad for child development) and I definitely lacked empathy well into adulthood.

So a big no to reading but pregnancy on the other hand...

Yes reading can increase empathy through helping to see things from another's perspective. Books also provide a chance to talk about the characters, what they might be feeling and make inferences about what might happen.

They were making a hilarious joke about the town of Reading, rather than the act of reading.

Assuming they're capable of empathy to begin with, absoultely. It's probably not going to do much to develop empathy in narcissists and similar sorts.

I think reading increases children's emotional literacy, but that is different from empathy.

I read recently that it does. I can't remember what study was quoted but there definitely seemed to be a connection.

I think reading helps with lots of things but I have always been a total bookworm and it has 100% kept my curiosity alive.

I don't believe only fiction works to encourage empathy though I would have thought biography and history would be important too