clipped from: www.sixwise.com   
Those Who Read Fiction Better at Reading People

"Books say: she did this because. Life says: she did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't."
 

A study published in the Journal of Research in Personality and led by Raymond Mar

found that people who read narrative fiction often have improved social abilities, while for those who read non-fiction, the opposite holds true

"Stories often force us to empathize with characters who are quite different from us, and this ability could help us better understand the many kinds of people we come across in the real world."

People who frequently read narrative fiction scored higher on tests of both empathy

and social acumen

Frequent reading of non-fiction was associated with poorer empathy and social acumen.


Why is Fiction Reading Good for Social Awareness

First

it exposes people to examples of the way people behave socially

Second

readers practice inferring people's intentions and closely watching their relationships