The Power of Fiction

If there is ever a time when digital communication and the pace of life make empathy and emotional intelligence more important, it is today. Ironically, one of the most effective methods of nurturing these traits comes from something as basic as reading fiction.

What is Empathy and Emotional Intelligence?

Empathy is the capacity to feel and comprehend the sentiments of other people. It is a matter of supporting emotional understanding of another individual.

Emotional intelligence, which is sometimes referred to simply as EQ, is the skill of understanding and controlling your own emotions and the emotions of those around. Individuals with EQ can achieve and navigate relationships in a much better way, they control their emotions appropriately and are more in tuned with their own emotions as well as the emotions of those around them.

The fiction we read is never a one-way traffic of words; rather, it constitutes active participation with the characters and the journey the characters go through. Whenever there is hardship being faced by a character, his emotional brain is corporated by the reader's emotional brain, whether it is joy, sadness, or fear.

Are All Narratives Beneficial for Building Empathy?

Fiction can help develop empathy and emotional intelligence but not all stories are equally effective in this regard. For example, love stories often tend to romance relationships in a way that may not actually be how people relate to each other in real life. According to research, readers of such novels often come to have exaggerated views about love and such views may impact their relationship values. It can be challenging for a reader to determine if a specific book will offer valuable insights or an engaging experience before diving into it. I suggest choosing various literary fiction dealing with emotions and relationships. This will help increase your empathy and EQ even more!

How Fiction Can Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

What readers do while reading develops their storytelling abilities including appreciation of character movements, gestures, and the emotions and thoughts behind actions which in return aids in interpreting what a character could be undergoing at that instant moment based on how they behave and react. Such engagement in return fosters reflection on oneself, as readers are prompted to consider their own reasons for doing or not doing certain things. Furthermore, there are many well written works that illustrate imperfect and weak characters who are going through tough times, this invites the reader to accept their own imperfections and feelings which brings out a kinder perspective towards oneself.

A study published in Science in 2013 found that reading literary fiction improves Theory of Mind (ToM), a key component of empathy. This research showed that individuals who engaged with literary fiction scored higher on tests measuring their ability to understand others’ thoughts and emotions, suggesting that the characteristics of literary narratives play a crucial role in enhancing empathy.

References:

Mar, R. A., & Oatley, K. (2008). The function of fiction is the Absent-Mindedness of the Self. In The Psychology of Fiction (pp. 85-98).

Kidd, David & Castano, Emanuele. (2013). Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind. Science (New York, N.Y.). 342. 10.1126/science.1239918.