A recent study finds a decline in empathy among young people in the U.S

Scientific American, What, Me Care? A recent study finds a decline in empathy among young people in the U.S., by Jamil Zaki

  • “The types of information we consume have also shifted in recent decades; specifically, Americans have abandoned reading in droves. The number of adults who read literature for pleasure sank below 50 percent for the first time ever in the past 10 years, with the decrease occurring most sharply among college-age adults. And reading may be linked to empathy. In a study published earlier this year psychologist Raymond A. Mar of York University in Toronto and others demonstrated that the number of stories preschoolers read predicts their ability to understand the emotions of others. Mar has also shown that adults who read less fiction report themselves to be less empathic.”
  • Emotion and narrative fiction: Interactive influences before, during, and after reading, Raymond A. Mara; Keith Oatleyb; Maja Djikicb; Justin Mullina a York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada b University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. First published on: 13 October 2010
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