Reading of literary fiction in early life is associated with a more complex worldview (increased attributional complexity, increased psychological richness), & with a decreased belief that contemporary inequalities are legitimate

Reading Literary Fiction Is Associated With a More Complex Worldview. Nicholas Buttrick, Erin C. Westgate, Shigehiro Oishi. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, July 7, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221106059

Abstract: What are the effects of reading fiction? We propose that literary fiction alters views of the world through its presentation of difference—different minds, different contexts, and different situations—grounding a belief that the social world is complex. Across four studies, two nationally representative and one preregistered (total n = 5,176), we find that the reading of literary fiction in early life is associated with a more complex worldview in Americans: increased attributional complexity, increased psychological richness, decreased belief that contemporary inequalities are legitimate, and decreased belief that people are essentially only one way. By contrast, early-life reading of narrative fiction that presents more standardized plots and characters, such as romance novels, predict holding a less complex worldview.

Keywords: attitudes, empathy, interpersonal processes, social judgment