Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind
Has this study been replicated?
The atlas records 6 replications of this study. Recorded outcomes: 3 failed, 2 mixed, 1 successful. The earliest on record is from 2015.
Replications
- Reading Literary Fiction and Theory of Mind: Three Preregistered Replications and Extensions of Kidd and Castano (2013), Kidd & Castano (2018). Social Psychological and Personality Science. Outcome recorded: mixed.
Applying the "small telescopes" method developed by Simonsohn revealed two uninformative failures to replicate and one successful replication.
Outcome read from the abstract. View paper - Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano (2013), Samur et al. (2017). Cognition and Emotion. Outcome recorded: failed.
In none of the experiments did reading literary fiction have any effect on mentalising relative to control conditions.
Outcome read from the abstract. View paper - The Effect of Reading a Short Passage of Literary Fiction on Theory of Mind: A Replication of Kidd and Castano (2013), van Kuijk et al. (2018). Collabra: Psychology. Outcome recorded: successful.
The results of this replication were largely consistent with Kidd and Castano's original findings.
Outcome read from the abstract. View paper - Does reading a single passage of literary fiction really improve theory of mind? An attempt at replication, Panero et al. (2016). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Outcome recorded: mixed.
In contrast to Kidd and Castano (2013), we found no significant advantage in RMET scores for literary fiction compared to any of the other conditions.
Outcome read from the abstract. View paper - Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015, Camerer et al. (2018). Nature Human Behaviour. Outcome recorded: failed.
[In supplementary table 4, under 'replicated' column, as unsuccessful replications in stage 1, underwent more data collection in stage 2]
Outcome read from Table 4 in Supplementary Materials, p. 54. View paper - Leidt het lezen van literaire fictie tot meer empathie? : een replicatiestudie van Kidd en Castano (2013), Dijkstra et al. (2015). De Psycholoog. Outcome recorded: failed.
The current non-replication of the results casts a further shadow on the conclusions of the Science article... Even when using the exact same selected text samples, methods, and population as Kidd and Castano, one does not necessarily obtain the same results. ... Strong claims such as 'reading literature makes us better people' require strong evidence. And it is now quite clear that such strong evidence is completely absent from the research of Kidd and Castano.
Outcome read from p. 8 / discussion.
Cite this record
Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind. Science, 342(6156), 377–380. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239918
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