The impact of narrative writing on empathy, perspective-taking, and attitude: Two randomized controlled experiments on violations of Covid-19 protection regulations

Martina Bientzle, Marie Eggeling, Marie Kanzleiter, Kerstin Thieme and Joachim Kimmerle

PLOS ONE, 2021, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: Objective: Two randomized controlled experiments investigated if writing a narrative text about a fictional person who shows disapproved of behavior in the Covid-19 pandemic influenced empathy, perspective-taking, attitude, and attribution of causes regarding that person’s behavior. Methods: In both studies, a fictional scenario was described, and participants answered questions regarding empathy, perspective-taking, attitude, and attribution regarding a fictional person’s disapproved of behavior (pre-post-measurement). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the experimental condition, they wrote a narrative text about the fictional person. In the control condition, they wrote about an unrelated topic. Results: We found that writing a narrative text increased empathy more strongly than writing about an unrelated topic; Study 1: p = 0.004, part.η2 = 0.06, Study 2: p

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0254501

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254501

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