We become more sensitive to other people’s emotions when we watch series, according to American researchers. Now we have a great excuse to watch a couple of episodes this weekend. However, reading fiction has the same effect.
If you, like the writer of this article, are familiar with a slight sense of guilt from excessive viewing of television products, there is good news for you. A study published a couple of weeks ago claims that watching high-quality TV shows like Mad Men or Breaking Bad increases emotional intelligence.1. In other words, from watching well-made TV shows, we become more empathetic to other people.
Pass the tests
- What role do you play in the film of your life?
- What ancient hero are you?
The authors of the study describe two of their experiments in this way. In the first, about a hundred people watched either a series (Mad Men or The West Wing) or a documentary (The Work of the Universe or Shark Week: Jaws Strike Back). After that, all participants were asked to take a test often used to measure emotional intelligence: they were shown 36 pairs of eyes and asked to determine what feeling is reflected in the look. As a result, it turned out that those who watched the series performed better on the task than those who watched the documentaries.
Then the scientists decided to repeat the experiment (with new series – “The Good Wife” and “Lost”, and new popular science programs – “Supernova” and “Through the Wormhole”). However, this time they added a control group that just passed the test. Like the first time, those who watched the series showed the best results. The control group did the worst.
Read more:
- “I hide in TV shows”
These results support a 2013 experiment that found that reading fiction led to higher scores on tests of emotional intelligence. The authors of both studies argue that a complex fictional narrative forces the reader or viewer to consider the situation from several points of view. Also, since not every character expresses their emotions openly, the audience is forced to make a mental effort to get an idea of the inner life of the characters.
The 2013 experiment was, however, heavily criticized. Doubts were raised by some research methods. In particular, many were embarrassed that the researchers offered subjects a choice between Chekhov’s prose and the educational articles of the Smithsonian Institution with headlines like “How the Potato Changed the World.” We have nothing against potatoes, but we must understand that these articles are not about people. There is nothing surprising in the fact that people were able to better understand human emotions after they read a text about these very emotions, and not about potatoes.
Read more:
- Series: why are they so popular?
The latest research has, unfortunately, the same flaw: is it really so surprising that an hour of reflection on the life and behavior of Don Draper makes people more empathetic than stories from the life of a great white shark? What gives us this knowledge? Maybe not so much, but if, like me, you suddenly need an excuse to sit down and watch the latest episode of Motherland, then here it is.
See more at publications of Science of Us.
1 J. Black et al. «Fiction and social cognition: The effect of viewing award-winning television dramas on theory of mind», Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, September 2015.