@mastersthesis{bal2025literary,
  author = {Bal, Onur},
  title = {Literary Work Readership and Its Relationship with Mentalisation and Empathy},
  school = {Yeditepe University},
  year = {2025},
  type = {Master's thesis},
  url = {https://onurbal.com/en/academics/thesis/}
}

The present study examined the relationship between literary fiction exposure and various socio-cognitive and emotional constructs, namely empathy (cognitive and affective), mentalisation (self-related and other-related ), anxiety (state and trait), and existential concerns within a Turkish university student and graduate sample. Building upon previous studies in Western contexts (e.g., Kidd & Castano, 2013; Mar et al., 2006) this thesis examined whether exposure to literary fiction predicts mentalisation and/or empathy, and whether anxiety or existential concerns moderate these associations. The results revealed a selective pattern: literary exposure significantly predicted empathy but not mentalisation, whereas existential concerns and trait anxiety showed differentiated effects across both constructs.

5.1. Empathy and Literary Exposure

Consistent with Hypothesis 1, literary exposure significantly predicted higher overall empathy, as well as both cognitive and affective components, even after accounting for demographic variables, existential concerns, and anxiety. While the effect sizes were modest, these findings align with meta-analytic estimates indicating small but reliable social-cognitive benefits of reading literary fiction (Hedges’ g ≈ 0.15; Dodell-Feder & Tamir, 2018). This pattern supports the broader literature suggesting that immersive engagement with character-driven narratives can enhance empathic understanding.

Among the empathy components, cognitive empathy was significantly predicted by literary exposure and existential concerns, whereas trait anxiety showed a negative association. This suggests that reflective engagement with existential themes may facilitate perspective-taking, while chronic anxious traits might hinder cognitive empathic processing. Affective empathy, by contrast, was significantly predicted by literary exposure but not by existential concerns or trait anxiety, though interestingly trait anxiety exhibited a marginal positive trend. This differential pattern may suggest that the empathic benefits of fiction operate through partially distinct mechanisms, as proposed in prior literature, potentially enhancing perspective-taking through intellectual reflection in the cognitive domain, and fostering emotional resonance through narrative immersion in the affective domain. While the current findings align with this theoretical distinction, further research would be needed to directly assess these underlying processes.

Demographic predictors revealed consistent effects across models. Male sex was associated with significantly lower empathy scores in overall, cognitive, and affective dimensions, replicating established sex differences in empathic capacity. Additionally, individuals with monthly spending above ₺45,000 demonstrated higher cognitive and overall empathy scores, possibly reflecting the role of educational or cultural capital in shaping access to fiction or social-cognitive enrichment. Age and education, in contrast, did not significantly predict empathy in this sample. Together, these results suggest that literary exposure independently contributes to empathy beyond demographic and dispositional factors, while also interacting with existential engagement and socio-economic background.

Bu bölüm, aşağıdaki ayrı okuma dosyalarına ayrılmıştır.

• 5.2. Mentalisation and Literary Exposure
• 5.3. Clinical Implications
• 5.4. Limitations and Future Directions
• 5.5. Conclusion