%0 Journal Article %1 MarOatley %A Mar, Raymond A. %A Oatley, Keith %A Hirsh, Jacob %A dela Paz, Jennifer %A Peterson, Jordan B. %D 2006 %J Journal of Research in Personality %K CiHB Empathy Fiction IJCEELL Non-fiction Simulation Social Story Theory-of-mind abilities cerme6 cognition mythesis narrative neurosome reading %P 694–712 %T Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds %U http://www.yorku.ca/mar/Mar%20et%20al%202006_bookworms%20versus%20nerds.pdf %V 40 %X While frequent readers are often stereotyped as socially awkward, this may only be true of non-fiction readers and not readers of fiction. Comprehending characters in a narrative fiction appears to parallel the comprehension of peers in the actual world, while the comprehension of expository non-Wction shares no such parallels. Frequent Wction readers may thus bolster or maintain their social abilities unlike frequent readers of non-fiction. Lifetime exposure to fiction and non-fiction texts was examined along with performance on empathy/social-acumen measures. In general, fiction print-exposure positively predicted measures of social ability, while non-fiction print-exposure was a negative predictor. The tendency to become absorbed in a story also predicted empathy scores. Participant age, experience with English, and intelligence (g) were statistically controlled.

@article{MarOatley, abstract = {While frequent readers are often stereotyped as socially awkward, this may only be true of non-fiction readers and not readers of fiction. Comprehending characters in a narrative fiction appears to parallel the comprehension of peers in the actual world, while the comprehension of expository non-Wction shares no such parallels. Frequent Wction readers may thus bolster or maintain their social abilities unlike frequent readers of non-fiction. Lifetime exposure to fiction and non-fiction texts was examined along with performance on empathy/social-acumen measures. In general, fiction print-exposure positively predicted measures of social ability, while non-fiction print-exposure was a negative predictor. The tendency to become absorbed in a story also predicted empathy scores. Participant age, experience with English, and intelligence (g) were statistically controlled.}, added-at = {2008-05-27T17:13:04.000+0200}, author = {Mar, Raymond A. and Oatley, Keith and Hirsh, Jacob and dela Paz, Jennifer and Peterson, Jordan B.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/29764eb15c308d4b8d22f2138e2d5be9a/yish}, interhash = {e89b12beb7eff93c3ad0c3d5860ab5ad}, intrahash = {9764eb15c308d4b8d22f2138e2d5be9a}, journal = {Journal of Research in Personality}, keywords = {CiHB Empathy Fiction IJCEELL Non-fiction Simulation Social Story Theory-of-mind abilities cerme6 cognition mythesis narrative neurosome reading}, pages = {694–712}, timestamp = {2009-05-01T01:03:09.000+0200}, title = {Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds}, url = {http://www.yorku.ca/mar/Mar%20et%20al%202006_bookworms%20versus%20nerds.pdf}, volume = 40, year = 2006 }