@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/}
}

2.4. Aim of the Study

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between exposure to literary fiction and empathy (cognitive and affective), mentalisation, anxiety (trait and state), and existential concerns within an 18- to 30-year-old university student or graduate population. Prior studies regarding the subject were dominantly conducted in Europe and Northern America, comprising Western literary works.

This study innovatively employs the literary canon titled 100 Temel Eser (100 Essential Works) published by the Turkish Ministry of National Education (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı [MEB]; T.C. Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, 2005) list as an ecologically valid proxy for engagement with literary fiction.

Furthermore, this study seeks to explore a broad network of variables that may interact by distinctly measuring cognitive empathy, affective empathy, and mentalisation separately, which will allow a more nuanced understanding of literary fiction’s effects on social cognition. The inclusion of anxiety in both its state and trait forms, which are known to interfere with interpretation of mental states (Washburn et al., 2016), as well as existential concerns, which feature as prominent themes found in literary works (Yalom, 1980) will allow the study of potential moderators.

2.4.1. Empathy-Focused Research Questions and Hypotheses

RQ1. Does exposure to literary fiction predict higher empathy scores?

H1. Literary fiction exposure will be positively associated with both cognitive and affective empathy.

RQ2. Is anxiety (state or trait) negatively associated with empathy?

H2a. State anxiety will be negatively associated with empathy.

H2b. Trait anxiety will be negatively associated with empathy.

RQ3. Do anxiety and existential concerns moderate the relationship between literary fiction exposure and empathy?

H3. Anxiety and existential concerns will moderate the effect of literary fiction exposure on empathy.

2.4.2. Mentalisation-Focused Research Questions and Hypotheses

RQ4. Does exposure to literary fiction predict higher mentalisation scores?

H4. Literary fiction exposure will be positively associated with mentalisation.

RQ5. Is anxiety (state or trait) negatively associated with mentalisation?

H5a. State anxiety will be negatively associated with mentalisation.

H5b. Trait anxiety will be negatively associated with mentalisation.

RQ6. Do anxiety and existential concerns moderate the relationship between literary fiction exposure and mentalisation?

H6. Anxiety and existential concerns will moderate the effect of literary fiction exposure on mentalisation.