In J. K. Rowling’s best-selling books, the boy wizard Harry Potter continually fights
pure evil – you know, that creepy snake tongue man with no nose. But how would Harry
go fighting the evil forces of the world we live in? By evil forces I mean bigotry, prejudice
and other negative attitudes that are the roots of our social conflicts. Could he diminish
these bitter human traits and make us better?
It turns out he already has.
[Brain Craft intro]
A good amount of research shows that reading fiction can increase empathy, improve our
understanding of other people and reduce prejudice. And over the 20 years since Harry Potter was
first published, researchers have been finding this story is particularly good at promoting
these prosocial values.
20 years...doesn’t time fly by?!
So, what’s so special about Harry Potter?
Well, Harry’s world wasn’t just fun magic and wizardry—it was plagued with the same
injustice that exists in our world. For instance, the bad characters in the story, like Voldemort
and the Death Eaters, believed “pure blood” wizards were superior to muggle-borns, whom
they called “mudbloods.”
Of course, these kind of themes are nothing new in literature – but J.K. Rowling approaches
them in a way that’s accessible to children. And learning about these issues at an early
age may help kids apply this understanding to their own social environments.
So, how well do children learn from Harry?
In a series of experiments published in 2015, researchers in Italy examined whether reading
Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups, including immigrants and LGBTQ people.
In a survey of 117 high schoolers, those who read the most Harry Potter books and related
to Harry were more open toward LGBTQ people.
But was that the effect of reading the books or were more open minded people more attracted
to the books?
To find out, the researchers gathered 34 fifth graders and asked them about their attitudes
toward immigrants. Then, over a few weeks, the students broke into groups and discussed
passages from the Harry Potter books. Kids who focused on sections dealing with prejudice
and also identified with Harry, showed improved attitudes towards immigrants.
Researchers think the Harry Potter stories have this effect because it improves empathy
– “the experience of understanding another person’s condition from their perspective.”
We can see examples of this in the pages!
A textual analysis of the series found that Harry and his friends respond empathetically
to acts of discrimination. Empathy is communicated to readers through Harry’s inner thoughts,
perspectives, actions and words.
Fiction is the simulation of people and their experiences. So reading is like practicing
how life feels like through another person’s eyes – the power of fiction is that this
can lead to changes in everyday life.
Psychologists have surveyed people before and after reading novels and found getting
immersed in a story improves empathy and theory-of-mind.
In one brain imaging study in 2013, researchers found after people read a novel, three hub
regions in their brain show altered activity for several days. These regions have been
linked to language function and representing other people's perspectives. In other words,
when we read stories, we activate the same brain areas as those involved with the processing
of understandings of other people.
And according to the narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis, experiencing a narrative leads
us to psychologically become a part of the group described within the narrative. In a
2011 study, participants who read passages from the Harry Potter and Twilight series
showed this effect. For example, they tended to implicitly associate wizard or vampire
words with themselves, some said they felt more British or thought they had sharper teeth.
In other words, those who read the Twilight series identified with vampires and Harry
Potter readers identified with wizards. Because obviously I’m in Ravenclaw.
So the real magic of Harry Potter is that, by reading it, we become more psychologically
like him: an orphan who stands up against injustice and discrimination, and befriends
a variety of people from different social standings and backgrounds. Because, just as
Dumbledore said, “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are
identical and our hearts are open.”