Emy Koopman

It is easy enough to theorize about the impact of literary reading on empathic reactions, but to empirically prove such effects is more difficult. This article provides a concise overview of the theoretical and empirical evidence that literary reading has an effect on empathy (in its multiple forms), distinguishing between the effects of literariness, narrativity and fictionality. Subsequently, it discusses the results of two recently conducted studies into reading and empathic understanding. As will become clear, we are still quite a long way from knowing when and how (literary) reading has an effect on empathy for others. Suggestions are offered how future studies can tackle this issue.

This study investigated the effects of foregrounding on affective responses (i.e., emotions) during reading, and on empathy and reflection after reading, using both quantitative and qualitative measures. In addition, the influence of personal factors (trait empathy, personal experience, exposure to literature) on empathy and reflection was explored. Participants (N = 142) were randomly assigned to read 1 of 3 versions of an excerpt from a literary novel about the loss of a child. Versions differed in the level of foregrounded textual features: the “original” version possessed a high level of semantic, phonetic, and grammatical foregrounding; semantic foregrounding was removed in the manipulated version “without imagery”; and semantic, phonetic and grammatical foregrounding were removed in the manipulated version “without foregrounding.” Results showed that readers who had read the “original” version scored higher on empathy after reading than those who had read the version “without foregrounding.” A quantitative analysis of qualitative data showed that participants reading the original version experienced significantly more ambivalent emotions than those in the version without foregrounding. Reflection did not seem to be influenced by foregrounding. Results suggest that personal factors may be more important in evoking reflection.

While it is commonsensical that we read stories to generate pleasant emotions (enjoyment), the fact that we also read stories which generate sadness had been deemed more puzzling. Recent studies have stressed the potential role of “eudaimonic” (meaning-making) motives in preferences for sad media, particularly sad films. The current survey study (N = 343) explored the role meaning-making motives (insight and personal growth) play in a preference for sad books relative to other motives, like catharsis beliefs and wanting to experience emotions (meta-emotions). The study also took into account gender and age. Results indicate that both meaning-making motives and meta-emotions predict a preference for sad books. This pattern was compared to preferences for specific book genres. A preference for thrillers was associated with meta-emotions, while a preference for poetry was associated with a need for insight. However, no specific genre was associated with both meta-emotions and insight. As sad books appear to address both needs for feeling and meaning-making, they serve a unique function for readers.

This study investigated the effects of text genre (expository, life narrative, literary narrative) on reflection (direct thoughts on various subjects and thinking back after one week), using both quantitative and qualitative measures. In addition, the interactive effect of personal factors (personal experience, trait empathy, exposure to literature) and affective responses during reading (narrative feelings, aesthetic feelings, empathic distress) on direct thoughts when reading stories was explored using AMOS. Respondents (N = 210) read two texts within the same genre, one about grief and one about depression, with one week between texts. Each week, they completed a questionnaire. In the short run, the expository texts evoked most “personal” thoughts, but after a week, respondents had thought back to the narrative texts more frequently than to the expository. A small percentage of participants showed a tendency to deeper reflection, predominantly in the literary condition. Direct thoughts were predicted by personal experience with the subject matter, empathic distress, sympathy/empathy with the character, and perceived foregrounding. These results suggest a confirmation of earlier evidence: for narrative texts, emotional reading experiences may be more likely to lead to reflection.

This study investigated the effects of text genre (expository, life narrative, literary narrative), personal factors (trait empathy, personal experience, exposure to literature), and affective responses during reading (most relevantly: sympathy/empathy with the character) on two types of empathy: empathic understanding and pro-social behavior (donating). Participants (N = 210) read two texts within the same genre, about depression and grief, with one week between sessions. A genre effect was observed for pro-social behavior in the case of depression, with more people donating in the life narrative condition. Personal experience predicted empathic understanding and prosocial behavior for depression, but not for grief. Empathic understanding was further predicted by trait empathy, exposure to literature, and sympathy/empathy with the character. These results demonstrate the relevance of looking at readers’ personal characteristics and suggest a repeated exposure effect of literature on empathic understanding.

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye (1970) and Shani Mootoo's Cereus Blooms at Night (1996) both apply a strategy of connecting rape to other forms of oppression, suggesting that incest is at least partly the result of the dynamics of being colonized and “othered”. This article brings out the problematics of closely associating colonization and (incestuous) rape by exploring the associations made in these two novels. It uses Kelly Oliver's concept of “the colonization of psychic space” to argue that the novels demonstrate that without a positive space of meaning, victims of racial oppression and of sexual violence find themselves among the abjected. The close association made between colonization and incest is criticized for ignoring the specificity of the processes by which incest and rape function to make one feel abjected.

In this dissertation, I provide preliminary answers to four research questions concerning our relation to (literary) narratives about suffering:

(I) What are readers’ motives to read about suffering?
(II) To what extent do literary narrative texts about suffering evoke affective responses during reading, reflection, empathy towards others and prosocial behavior in comparison to non-literary texts?
(III) To what extent do personal characteristics of readers influence those affective responses, reflection, empathy towards others and prosocial behavior?
(IV) To what extent and how do affective responses during reading influence reflection, empathy towards others and prosocial behavior?