The Effects of Fiction on Empathy

Can fiction foster empathy? By immersing ourselves in another person's trials and tribulations, are we better able to recognise diverse perspectives and constraints? My reading fiction viewing plays and watching television have helped Americans become culturally looser, more open-minded and tolerant. People who are more interested in other people's lives are more likely to read fiction. Type of literature also matters. Chit lit as it's called, and romance fiction do not predict world view complexity. Of course there is a risk of indogenity.