Preferred Name
Hamilton, Kane
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Educational Specialist (EdS)
Department
Department of Graduate Psychology
Advisor(s)
Patricia Warner
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether reading narrative fiction can potentiate empathy in middle school students. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: narrative fiction group and expository nonfiction group. Participants in the narrative fiction group were asked to read a passage from a novel selected from the 5th grade Common Core reading curriculum. Participants in the expository nonfiction group were asked to read a passage from a science book from the 5th grade Common Core science curriculum. Pretest and posttest data were collected using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Results of this study indicate that narrative fiction very likely has a positive effect on empathic thinking as measured by the IRI when compared to expository nonfiction. Additionally, results indicate that long term exposure to narrative fiction may also be correlated with empathic thought. Results also indicate that high IRI Fantasy subscale scores predict posttest overall IRI scores following immediate exposure to narrative fiction.
Recommended Citation
Hamilton, Kane M., "Cultivating empathy in middle school students through narrative fiction" (2016). Educational Specialist, 2009-2019. 23.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/edspec201019/23
Included in
Child Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, School Psychology Commons
