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Connecting the dots between fantasy and reality: The social psychology of our engagement with fictional narrative and its functional value
Author(s) -
DillShackleford Karen E.,
Vinney Cynthia,
HopperLosenicky Kristin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/spc3.12274
Subject(s) - narrative , empathy , psychology , meaning (existential) , feeling , value (mathematics) , social psychology , fantasy , storytelling , prejudice (legal term) , aesthetics , entertainment , narrative psychology , narrative inquiry , narrative criticism , visual arts , literature , art , psychotherapist , machine learning , computer science
Abstract This essay provides an overview of research and theory on narrative and its important, functional role in human experience, including the ways people use media to interrogate their own beliefs and feelings, and derive social meaning. Thought‐provoking film, television, and books can help us make meaning of our lives and grow in ways that are important for our successful social functioning. Research reviewed here demonstrates that exposure to fiction can increase empathy and social skills and reduce prejudice. Our connection to characters and stories has been studied in various ways as extensions of the self into another, while at the same time bringing the other into the self. Bringing together disparate perspectives, we propose that connecting to story worlds involves a process of “dual empathy”—simultaneously engaging in intense personal processing while also “feeling through” characters, both of which produce benefits. Because the value of entertainment narratives may not always be well understood, we explain how those experiences can be personal, social, and can serve important adaptive functions.