Reading Fiction and Theory of Mind: The Impact of Reader Preferences and Emotional Cohesion Gaps
Margot Simeone - Psychology
Gabriella Monferrato - Psychology
Noelle Mayne - Psychology
Anna Brown - Psychology
Abstract
This study investigates how reading fictional texts might impact readers’ theory of mind. Participants read either a “literary” story or a “pop fiction” story, then completed the RMET task, a measure of Theory of Mind. The literary text yielded higher RMET scores, but the impact was higher for people who had less exposure to fiction. The literary text also required more emotional inferences, and this difference in “emotional cohesion” might explain differences in RMET scores.
Reading Fiction and Theory of Mind: The Impact of Reader Preferences and Emotional Cohesion Gaps
University Commons
This study investigates how reading fictional texts might impact readers’ theory of mind. Participants read either a “literary” story or a “pop fiction” story, then completed the RMET task, a measure of Theory of Mind. The literary text yielded higher RMET scores, but the impact was higher for people who had less exposure to fiction. The literary text also required more emotional inferences, and this difference in “emotional cohesion” might explain differences in RMET scores.
