Literature and empathy: dare to change perspective!

Reading as empathy training Strategic empathy is the focus of my Lilit training. But how do we learn to change perspective? Researchers at Ohio State University found that nothing is better suited than a little ‘holiday in your head’! That’s right: they studied the connection between empathy and literature. They showed that spontaneously immersing ourselves in a first-person narrator’s perspective can change our real behaviour. Parts of the experiment measured how deeply readers experienced a character’s story. They stepped into the shoes of someone overcoming several obstacles to reach the polling station on election day. The astonishing result: empathetic involvement produced a measurable effect. Participants were more likely to vote themselves a few days later! Other examples showed that intensive shifts in perspective through reading also reduced stereotypes about people of different backgrounds and attitudes. A similar effect can be experienced in intercultural training .

Changing perspective: immersing yourself in another world

Geoff Kaufman, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology explains: ‘Experiencing a story changes us by allowing us to merge our own lives with those of the characters we read about. This can have a positive effect.’ But beware: this effect occurs only when we truly lose ourselves in the text. Reading then becomes more than a rational attempt to understand someone else; it becomes real shared experience. For a brief moment we forget our own identity and become completely absorbed in the story. ‘You’ve replaced yourself with the other,’ says Professor Lisa Libby, co-author of the study. We all know those moments when we unconsciously find ourselves in someone else’s view of the world—whether on Marlow’s journey into the jungle and the depths of the human psyche in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness or through the unfamiliar view of Indian society offered by Balram, a poor villager who dares to climb the social ladder in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger . We experience worlds otherwise closed to us and feel empathy in its purest form: a powerful force that can lead us to greater understanding and better decisions. This is a strong case for empathy’s power—and for more enjoyment of reading. So what are you waiting for? Your empathy training starts tonight, with a good book on your lap and a warm mug of cocoa in your hand… By the way, changing perspective can also be used purposefully at work, whether for intercultural competence or for powerful communication that moves others —because good speakers and leaders also rely on empathy. Use my professional tips on empathy and storytelling on social media: Just email me and I’ll gladly send you my book contribution free of charge. Just passing through? Browse our posts on storytelling! 🙂 1. Take a look at how to use empathy to persuade 2. And how well the parties used storytelling on Instagram in their election campaigns. Enjoy reading and telling stories! Get advice now