ArticlePloS one2019
Encouraging perspective taking: Using narrative writing to induce empathy for others engaging in negative health behaviors.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Good reasons for bad behavior: a randomized controlled experiment on the impact of narrative reading and writing on empathic concern, perspective-taking, and attitude.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Development and Effectiveness of Humanities-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Adolescents With Problematic Gaming Behavior.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Cinemeducation: a descriptive mixed-methods analysis of perspectives in a medical humanities course.Medical education online · 2025Article
- Beyond Technical Skills: The Value of Perspective-Taking in STEM Education.CBE life sciences education · 2025Article
- Alter egos alter engagement: perspective-taking can improve disclosure quantity and depth to AI chatbots in promoting mental wellbeing.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- IKEA effect and empathy for robots: Can assembly strengthen human-agent relationships?PloS one · 2025Article
- Creating demand for unmet needs: Agile Storytelling.Frontiers in health services · 2024Article
- Palliative care stay room - designing, testing and evaluating a gamified social intervention to enhance palliative care awareness.BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- Influence of agent's self-disclosure on human empathy.PloS one · 2023Article
- Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy interact with stress to predict mental health, parenting, and relationship outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Integration of Arts and Humanities in Medical Education: a Narrative Review.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2022Review
- Medical Students' Creation of Original Poetry, Comics, and Masks to Explore Professional Identity Formation.The Journal of medical humanities · 2021Article
- 'Attorneys of the poor': Training physicians to tackle health inequalities.Future healthcare journal · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Societal expectations of self-care and responsible actions toward others may produce bias against those who engage in perceived self-harming behavior. This is especially true for health professionals, who have dedicated themselves to helping reduce the burden of illness and suffering. Research has shown that writing narratives can increase perspective taking and empathy toward other people, which may engender more positive attitudes. Two studies examined whether creating a fictional narrative about a woman who smokes cigarettes while pregnant could increase positive attitudes toward the woman who smokes and reduce the internal attributions made for her behavior. Across both experiments, the narrative writing intervention increased participants' empathy and perspective taking, evoked more positive attitudes toward a woman who smokes cigarettes while pregnant, and increased external attributions for her behavior. This work supports our hypothesis that narrative writing would be an efficacious intervention promoting attitude change toward patients who engage in unhealthy, and often contentious, behaviors. This work also suggests that narrative writing could be a useful intervention for medical professionals and policy makers leading to more informed policy or treatment recommendations, encouraging empathy for patients, and engendering a stronger consideration of how external forces can play a role in someone's seemingly irresponsible behavior.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.