@mastersthesis{bal2025literary,
  author = {Bal, Onur},
  title = {Literary Work Readership and Its Relationship with Mentalisation and Empathy},
  school = {Yeditepe University},
  year = {2025},
  type = {Master's thesis},
  url = {https://onurbal.com/en/academics/thesis/}
}

Humans are storytellers. This is one of the characteristics of humans that distinguishes them from other species. We tell stories regarding our experience in the world we live in and also of fictional worlds that we create which mimic our own as we try to make sense of what’s within and without. “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms”, wrote Rukeyser (1968), poetically capturing what has since become a central idea in psychology, philosophy, and literary studies alike.

Starting from early childhood, human beings are constantly immersed in stories, particularly through their parents’ telling them stories and picture books, which plays an immense role in cognitive development and emotional bonding (Fiese et al., 1999). From the bedtime stories to the great literary classics, narratives give form to our comprehension of others’ emotions, thoughts, and intentions (Kidd & Castano, 2013; Mar & Oatley, 2008; Zunshine, 2006). Through narrative, we practise perspective-taking and simulate mental states, which are core components of theory of mind and mentalisation. As such, fiction is not merely entertainment; it may serve as a powerful tool for social cognition and a means of coping with existential concerns (Kidd & Castano, 2013; Mar et al., 2009)

Stories, then, serve not only to entertain, but to cultivate social and cognitive skills which aid us in navigating our complex interpersonal webs (Mar, 2011; Zunshine, 2006). Furthermore, the capacity of the creator to construct, the people to share, and the individual to interpret stories demonstrates a fundamental psychological achievement for our species: the ability to grasp the inner worlds, or the mental states, of ourselves and others (Bruner, 1990; Gallagher & Hutto, 2008; Tomasello, 2003).

This ability is known as Theory of Mind (ToM), the capacity to attribute thoughts, beliefs, emotions and motives to oneself and to others, being able to recognise that others may have mental states different from one’s own (Premack & Woodruff, 1978). Not just a mere academic construct, ToM is at the heart of our social lives. Whether we are comforting a friend in distress, facing a moral dilemma at work (Young & Dungan, 2011), reading the news online (Mar, 2011), understanding another’s simple communicative efforts (Astington & Baird, 2005; de Villiers & de Villiers, 2000) or the more taxing act of comprehending the actual meaning behind someone’s ironic comments (Gallagher & Frith, 2003; Happé, 1993), we are putting our ToM skills to use.

Although ToM is often approached as a singular capacity, contemporary research suggests it is better understood as a multidimensional construct composed of distinct yet interrelated components (Schaafsma et al., 2015). Closely related to, but conceptually distinct from ToM, are the constructs of mentalisation and empathy which are two essential aspects of social cognition. Mentalisation is the developmental capacity to understand and interpret one’s own and others’ behaviour in terms of intentional mental states such as beliefs, desires, feelings, and thoughts. It emerges in the context of early attachment relationships and underlies the organisation of the self by allowing individuals to reflect on internal experiences and make behaviour meaningful and predictable (Fonagy & Target, 1997). Empathy, on the other hand, operates in an affective manner, being the capacity to recognise, share, and respond to others’ emotions (Batson, 2009; Decety & Jackson, 2004). Though they may rely on different mechanisms, mentalisation and empathy work in harmony for social functioning in a combined effort (Decety & Lamm, 2006).

As children grow older, they increasingly comprehend and produce more complex narratives, which develops alongside their growing capacity to make sense of human behaviour in terms of inner mental states, a process known as mentalisation. Similar progression can be observed in literature: while early fictional narratives may have focused on simple or concrete themes, later works of fiction began to explore human beings’ psychological depth and existential concerns (Oatley, 2011). The belles-lettres of the world, from the Epic of Gilgamesh at the dawn of civilisation to Danielewski’s House of Leaves, force readers to confront death, choice, freedom, and meaning. These existential themes echo Freud’s (1930/2010) claim that discontent became a defining feature of human experience with the rise of civilization. While non-human animals may feel anxious at the prospect of danger, and feel the same range of emotions as us in other parts of their lives (Panksepp, 1998), humans have a unique written history of reflecting upon suffering, finitude, and absurdity.

This thesis examines how literary fiction is associated with key components of social cognition, specifically, mentalisation and empathy, and how these are, in turn, associated with existential anxiety. Mentalisation refers to the dynamic and context-sensitive interpretation of others’ mental states, and empathy encompasses the affective resonance with others’ emotions. Differentiating among these constructs is crucial, as each plays a distinct role in understanding fictional characters and engaging with complex narratives. By bringing together findings from developmental psychology, social cognition, and literary research, this study offers an integrative framework to investigate the associations among fiction reading, social-cognitive capacities, and existential concerns.

Bu bölüm, aşağıdaki ayrı okuma dosyalarına ayrılmıştır.

• 1.1. Key Theoretical Constructs/Concepts and Definitions