Have you ever read a book that changed your outlook on life? Researchers investigated how reading literary fiction can influence the complexity of our perspectives and personalities. Literary fiction is rich in nuanced characters and intricate narratives and can lead to a more multifaceted outlook on life. The researchers collected data from a group of over 5,000 participants across four studies to explore the effects of literary consumption on the human outlook. They asked participants to reflect on both current and past reading habits and to complete various assessments that tested for belief in the system, empathy, and change (can people grow or have set characteristics that make them the way they are). Results? The researchers found that greater early-life literary fiction reading predicted people having more empathy, a more complex worldview, psychological richness, and intellectual humility. Literacy readers believed more in change and system legitimacy, and a sense that all knowledge and ways of knowing are the same. Parents! Read stories to your child from their first year. Encourage and teach them to read by having a “rest time” for reading books. Regularly go to the library. Reading is the key to school success! Reference: Buttrick, N., Westgate, E. C., & Oishi, S. (2023). Reading Literary Fiction Is Associated With a More Complex Worldview. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 49(9), 1408–1420. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221106059

Written by Jarret Bain B.S.