The art of character: Investigating relationships between fiction-engagement and empathic traits

Reading a passage of fiction appears to enhance empathic accuracy, the ability to interpret and understand the experiences of others (for a recent meta-analysis, see Dodell-Feder & Tamir, 2018). The cognitive mechanisms involved in this effect, however, remain unclear. The present study drew on previous research indicating positive relationships between the tendency to become immersed in fictional stories and empathic accuracy (e.g., e.g., Kidd & Castano, 2013; Samur, Tops, & Koole, 2017), and experimental evidence that becoming immersed in narratives can promote attitude-change (e.g., Green & Brock, 2000). Findings from two pre-test studies and two experiments examining relationships between immersion in a fictional story and cognitive and affective empathic accuracy will be presented. Methodological challenges encountered in the study of effects of immersion on empathic accuracy will be discussed, including stimulus choice, the manipulation of immersion, and dissociations between empathic accuracy measures.