People Who Read Books are Nicer

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From The Independent:

Want to become a better person? Then you might want to consider picking up a book because according to a new study, reading regularly could make you kinder and more empathetic.

After being quizzed on their preferences for books, TV and plays, 123 participants were tested on interpersonal skills including how much they considered other people’s feelings and whether they acted to help others.

The study, conducted by Kingston University in London, found that readers were more likely to act in a socially acceptable manner compared to those who preferred watching television.

Instead, TV lovers came across as less friendly and less understanding of others’ views.

But, no ordinary book will do because it turns out the type of literature you choose also has a huge impact on your emotional intelligence.

The study revealed that fiction fans showed more positive social behaviour while readers of drama and romance novels were found to be the most empathic.

Link to the rest at The Independent

10 thoughts on “People Who Read Books are Nicer”

    • There you go, you win one each internet.

      I remember back in high school (class of ’76) one of my teachers proving to the class that polls would say whatever the question writer wanted them to say. She gave us five questions to answer, fold, and leave on our desks. She then ran five ‘polls’ with each of us answering on a piece of paper. There was no small amazement in the class to discover that we’d all answered the key polling questions differently than we had when they had been worded a different way and had the lead-in questions start you thinking a certain way.

  1. For all the marvels of the visual storytelling forms, a book written in the right way is the only way of living another life from the inside.

    It is my choice to write in multiple close third person pov precisely for that feature: my readers are going to sit inside the skull of my character, right behind the eyeballs, where they can perceive every relevant specific thought as the character has it, and sop up the general thinking that goes on inside a character’s head, as well as get the external stimuli as first hand as I can deliver it.

    I know it’s an illusion – I can’t possibly write down everything that happens, and no one would want to read it – but when readers ‘get it,’ I’ve done my job.

    You just can’t do that from the outside.

    And just as people who have lived in two different places can never again believe there is only one way of doing things, people who have lived other lives via books can never again believe there is only one way of being and of thinking – because they done others.

    I want that from my books. At least some of them.

  2. 123 participants? Out of 7 Billion. And it’s supposed to mean anything? Seriously??

    • Sarah McCabe, Good catch. 123 is not a robust sample size. All the conclusions from this study are suspect.

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