In this dissertation, I provide preliminary answers to four research questions concerning our relation to (literary) narratives about suffering:

(I) What are readers’ motives to read about suffering?
(II) To what extent do literary narrative texts about suffering evoke affective responses during reading, reflection, empathy towards others and prosocial behavior in comparison to non-literary texts?
(III) To what extent do personal characteristics of readers influence those affective responses, reflection, empathy towards others and prosocial behavior?
(IV) To what extent and how do affective responses during reading influence reflection, empathy towards others and prosocial behavior?

M.S.S.E. Janssen (Susanne) , E.B. Andringa (Els) , F. Hakemulder (Frank)
This research has been supported by the PhD in the Humanities funding programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-322-30-001).
ERMeCC, Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, Rotterdam
hdl.handle.net/1765/93344
ERMeCC - Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture
Department of Media and Communication

Koopman, E. (2016, September 30). Reading suffering : an empirical inquiry into empathic and reflective responses to literary narratives. ERMeCC - Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/93344