Speaker: Danyal Tohidi Nasab @Danial
Affiliation: Allameh Tabataba’I University
Title: Into Perspectives: Exploring the Impact of Alexithymia Levels and Narrative Point-of-View on Theory of Mind Following Short Story Reading
Abstract (long version below): Numerous studies highlight fiction’s impact on readers’ cognitive and socio-emotional capacities. However, existing investigations often overlook readers’ emotional profiles, crucial for understanding the holistic effects of fiction. This study explores the immediate influences of varying alexithymia levels and narrative point-of-view on story engagement and theory of mind ability. By examining these factors, the research aims to contribute insights into the intricate interplay between emotional profiles, narrative perspectives, and the reader’s cognitive and socio-emotional responses to fiction. Furthermore, this approach contributes to a more comprehensive grasp of the multifaceted dynamics inherent in the interaction between the reader and the text.
Poster.pdf (598.1 KB)
Long abstract
Long abstract
Reading stories is a pleasant pastime, but it is more than just mere enjoyment. Research has shown that reading fiction has the potential to enhance socio-cognitive abilities (e.g., see Mumper & Gerrig, 2017; Wimmer et al., 2024, for overviews). While some studies emphasize the impact of fiction after an incubation period (Appel & Richter, 2007), others found that it might be immediate (e.g., Kidd & Castano, 2013). The immediate cognitive and socio-emotional effects of fiction reading have been replicated several times (e.g., Black & Barnes, 2015; Kidd et al., 2016; Pino & Mazza, 2016; van Kuijk et al., 2018). Despite these findings on the effects of fiction, others have found no profound effect of fiction on socio-cognitive abilities over nonfiction (Dodell-Feder et al., 2023). Various factors may contribute to story-based effects. Among these are individuals’ emotional profile (Samur et al., 2021) and textual properties (for an overview, see Chen & Bell, 2022). For example, Samur et al. (2017) found that individuals with High Levels of Alexithymia (HLA) exhibit poor mentalizing ability, resulting in lower engagement after reading fiction compared to those with Low Levels of Alexithymia (LLA; Samur et al., 2021). Their data also suggest that the first-person point-of-view (1p-PoV) is more engaging for individuals with LLA than the third-person point-of-view (3p-PoV; Samur et al., 2021). Despite the extensive body of studies on the effect of textual properties and individual differences on story engagement and social cognition abilities, it is understudied how personal pronouns and alexithymia levels influence socio-cognitive ability after reading a short story. Thus, this study explores the influence of different levels of alexithymia (LLA vs. HLA) and narrative PoV (1p-PoV vs. 3p-PoV) on story engagement and ToM ability following a single reading session.
Current study
This study aims to explore the immediate effects of varying levels of alexithymia and narrative point-of-view on story engagement and socio-cognitive abilities. For this study, we employ a 2x2 between-subjects design with independent variables of narrative point-of-view (1p-PoV vs. 3p-PoV) and alexithymia levels (LLA vs. HLA). The dependent variable is ToM ability.
Using prior analysis based on a moderate effect size of 0.25 and a desired power level of 0.8, a total of 180 participants are required.
The current study contains two phases. Before conducting the in-lab experiment (Phase-II), we perform a phase-I screening of all the volunteers to determine their eligibility for inclusion in the experiment. This screening phase involves administering both the Farsi version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (FTAS-20, Besharat, 2007) and the Persian-language version of the Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition questionnaire (BDI-II-Persian; Ghassemzadeh et al., 2005) for measuring the level of alexithymia and depression (control variables), respectively. Participants scoring between 37 and 60 on the FTAS-20 are excluded from further participation, as they fall within the medium range of alexithymia. We are specifically interested in individuals with LLA as well as those with HLA. Therefore, we screen all volunteers who score equal to or less than 36 on the FTAS-20 (indicating LLA) and participants who score equal to or greater than 61 (indicating HLA). These participants are considered eligible for further involvement in the study and are recruited for the in-lab investigation
In this study, we selected four short stories (two of which were translated into the Persian language, two others were original written in Persian) that have a medium to high level of emotional arousal and depict negative experiences. After conducting a pilot, we selected Anton Chekhov’s “Misery” for the experiment. The story is about a miserable sledge driver father named Iona Potapov, who is grieving over his recently dead son. Iona desperately wants to talk about his son’s death, but no one is willing to listen to him. Every passenger is preoccupied with their own life and is indifferent to Iona’s plight. Finally, the only creature that he finds to be helpful in sharing his plight is his faithful horse. Both the original and manipulated versions of the story have roughly the same length, with 2241 and 2137 words, respectively.
One day before the in-lab experiment, for the sake of reducing the experiment duration, we evaluate their ToM ability using the Persian version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (P-RMET; Khorashad et al., 2015) online. Participants are then randomly assigned to either the 3p-PoV condition or the manipulated condition, i.e., 1p-PoV condition. After reading assignments, participants complete the 48-item Yoni version (Isernia et al., 2023), a computer-based performance of affective and cognitive ToM, and the transportation scale (Green & Brock, 2000) as well as the identification questionnaire (Cohen, 2001) afterward. The task and the self-reported questionnaires are presented in random order. Participants were thanked and given a gift by the experimenter after the completion of the study. The in-lab experiment lasts for 20 minutes on average.
Results
The complete dataset for the current study is not yet available for analyses. However, we anticipate that the findings will be thoroughly examined and subsequently presented at the IGEL 2024 conference.