logo
ResearchBunny Logo
Art films foster theory of mind

Psychology

Art films foster theory of mind

E. Castano

Discover how watching art films can enhance your understanding of others' thoughts and feelings. This insightful research by Emanuele Castano reveals that viewers of art films score higher on Theory of Mind measures compared to those who watch Hollywood films. Dive into the complexity and predictability of character interactions explored in this fascinating study.... show more
Abstract
Research shows that reading literary but not popular fiction enhances Theory of Mind (ToM). This study tests whether exposure to art films, but not Hollywood films, similarly enhances ToM. Participants (N=232) were randomly assigned to view either art or Hollywood films, answered questions about the film and its characters, and then completed two ToM measures (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, RMET; Moral Judgment Task, MJS). Art film viewers scored higher on both ToM measures. The effect was sequentially mediated by perceptions of character complexity and predictability. Findings are discussed within the growing literature on how fiction impacts social cognition.
Publisher
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Published On
May 25, 2021
Authors
Emanuele Castano
Tags
Theory of Mind
art films
Hollywood films
character perception
complexity
predictability
film studies
Listen, Learn & Level Up
Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.
No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.
listen to research audio papers with researchbunny