• Question: Whats the most fascinating thing you've found from your research?

    Asked by Lana to Ben, Sam, Kirsty, Maggi, Rose on 13 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Kirsty Miller

      Kirsty Miller answered on 13 Jun 2017:

      Hi 🙂
      I think the most interesting thing I’ve found so far is that boys tend to be closer to their family than girls! Boys also tend to have more groups that they feel attached to than girls do.That really surprised me as I thought it would be the opposite way round!
      When I looked into it further though, it seemed that this might be because girls tend to suffer more from mental illness than boys, and unfortunately this can prevent them from feeling connected to the people around them. This is obviously a big problem so it’s something we have to investigate further. I’m really glad I found this out though because it means that I can try to make it better!

    • Photo: Rose Turner

      Rose Turner answered on 14 Jun 2017:

      The most interesting thing I have discovered so far in my research is that people who enjoy comedy, above other genres, tend to have stronger empathic skills (the ability to understand others, take their perspectives and feel compassion for other people) and tend to behave more altruistically (helping other) compared to people that prefer other genres. It could be that engaging with comedy improves empathic skills, or it could be that very empathic people seek out comedy. I’m not sure yet which way round it is (it might be both!) but I’m excited to find out! Doing so will hopefully help to understand a bit more abut empathic skills and how engaging with fiction can improve them.

      Thanks for a great question, Larlie!

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