Levels of empathy when reading fiction versus listening to fiction

Abstract

Empathy and reading are both in decline (Lanzoni, 2018), but empathy is more important now than ever before (Manny, 2008). Reading fiction correlates to higher measures of empathy (Kidd & Castano, 2013) but reading print books has been negatively impacted by the growth of technology (Audio Publishers Association, 2019; Swann, 2019). Using 91 participants, this paper investigated how reading fiction from print, reading it from an e-reader, or listening to an audiobook, correlated to empathy. It also studied the levels of empathy between males and females as women read more fiction (Weiner, 2007). The results indicated that women outscore men in empathy, but no differences were found when reading fiction versus listening to fiction in either print or digital formats.