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Today I've stumbled over a little article in a consumer publication which you can get for free in all pharmacies here. The article's title was something like this 'Less Prejudice due to Harry' and it mentioned a scientific publication from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Summary of the findings (Vezzali et al. 2014. DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12279):
Three different studies (with 5th graders, high school students and undergraduates) showed that reading Harry Potter can help to reduce prejudies against so called 'out-groups' like immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees. Each age group read the books (or parts of them) and was asked about one of the discreminated groups by questionnaire(s):
- 5th graders about immigrants (in Italy)
- high school students about homosexuals (in Italy)
- and undergraduate students about refugees (in United Kingdom).
They took a lot of other date to delimitate bias and other influences (for example how much tv the participants had watched or how many books they'd read per year).
The more the participants could relate to Harry (and the less to Voldemort) the more their attitude towards out-groups improved.
It's an open access article so if you want to have a look, here it is: The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice
Though the publication is written (like all scientific publications) in true gobbledygook, it's made me happy. It's no surprise to find open-minded people in fandom, but that the books can measurably lessen discrimination, yeah, that's good news.
Summary of the findings (Vezzali et al. 2014. DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12279):
Three different studies (with 5th graders, high school students and undergraduates) showed that reading Harry Potter can help to reduce prejudies against so called 'out-groups' like immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees. Each age group read the books (or parts of them) and was asked about one of the discreminated groups by questionnaire(s):
- 5th graders about immigrants (in Italy)
- high school students about homosexuals (in Italy)
- and undergraduate students about refugees (in United Kingdom).
They took a lot of other date to delimitate bias and other influences (for example how much tv the participants had watched or how many books they'd read per year).
The more the participants could relate to Harry (and the less to Voldemort) the more their attitude towards out-groups improved.
It's an open access article so if you want to have a look, here it is: The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice
Though the publication is written (like all scientific publications) in true gobbledygook, it's made me happy. It's no surprise to find open-minded people in fandom, but that the books can measurably lessen discrimination, yeah, that's good news.
