You Are What You Read - Pacific Standard
While we may view them as universal, the ethical compasses that guide us can, in fact, vary enormously. As recent research has shown, actions seen as obviously wrong to one individual may be perfectly acceptable to another.
If you are sizing up a potential partner (of either the romantic or business variety), it’d be wise to establish early on whether your moral world views are compatible. Newly published research points to a surprisingly revealing clue: which genres of fiction they prefer.
The research finds fans of science fiction and fantasy, as well as literary fiction, lean toward a more permissive moral style. Romance and mystery readers, in contrast, tend to abide by a more rigid sense of right and wrong.
“The degree to which a given genre stretches the bounds of morality” varies considerably, writes University of Oklahoma psychologists Jessica Black, Stephanie Capps, and Jennifer Barnes. They argue readers gravitate toward those genres that reflect their personal ethical codes—and those codes may be shaped, at least in part, by what they read.
More: You Are What You Read - Pacific Standard
I read Science Fiction.
What am I?