Human Minds and Animal Stories: How Narratives Make Us Care About Other Species
Open accessAbstract
The power of stories to raise our concern for animals has been postulated throughout history by countless scholars, activists, and writers, including such greats as Thomas Hardy and Leo Tolstoy. This is the first book to investigate that power and explain the psychological and cultural mechanisms behind it. It does so by presenting the results of an experimental project that involved thousands of participants, texts representing various genres and national literatures, and the cooperation of an internationally-acclaimed bestselling author. Combining psychological research with insights from animal studies, ecocriticism and other fields in the environmental humanities, the book not only provides evidence that animal stories can make us care for other species, but also shows that their effects are more complex and fascinating than we have ever thought. In this way, the book makes a groundbreaking contribution to the study of relations between literature and the nonhuman world as well as to the study of how literature changes our minds and society. "As witnessed by novels like Black Beauty and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a good story can move public opinion on contentious social issues. In Human Minds and Animal Stories a team of specialists in psychology, biology, and literature tells how they discovered the power of narratives to shift our views about the treatment of other species. Beautifully written and based on dozens of experiments with thousands of subjects, this book will appeal…
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Previous research has not consistently shown that perceived fictionality influences aspects of social cognition independently from narrativity.
“or that it influences aspects of social cognition independently from narrativity (Małecki et al., 2019).”
From The effects of reading narrative fiction on social and moral cognition (2021) · cites this paper as Małecki et al., 2019
Stories about animals that failed to raise participants' general concern for animal welfare have nevertheless been found to increase their concern for the welfare of the species depicted in those narratives.
“stories about animals that failed to raise participants' general concern for animal welfare have nevertheless been found to increase their concern for the welfare of the species depicted in those narratives (Małecki et al., 2019).”
From The effects of reading narrative fiction on social and moral cognition (2021) · cites this paper as Małecki et al., 2019
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References 237 · Cited by 30
- Authors
- Małecki, W., Sorokowski, P., Pawłowski, B., & Cieński, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Wrocław (PL)
- Venue
- Routledge eBooks
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Published
- 2019-02-07
- OpenAlex
- W4212859241
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 237
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 6.45
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- BiblioBoard Library Catalog (Open Research Library) (submittedVersion)
- BiblioBoard Library Catalog (Open Research Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- OAPEN (The OAPEN Foundation) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature
- Social Sciences › Law › Animal Law and Welfare
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Themes in Literature Analysis
- Keywords
- animal stories, animal advocacy, animal welfare, narrative effects, ecocriticism, environmental humanities, animal studies, human-animal relations, moral concern for animals, literature and social change
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