Pam Belluck writes in The New York Times about a study, "Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind," conducted by two social psychologists, David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano, at The New School which found that reading literary fiction (as opposed to popular fiction or "serious" nonfiction) "leads people to perform better on tests that measure empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence."
The authors of the study, which was published in the journal Science, say that "literary fiction often leaves more to the imagination, encouraging readers to make references about characters and be sensitive to emotional nuance and complexity. They theorize that reading literary fiction helps improve real-life skills like empathy and understanding the beliefs and intentions of others."
