This study investigated the relationship between narrative fiction exposure and moral orientation in 8-16 year-olds. Eudaimonic narrative fiction exposure was related to eudaimonic moral orientations. Information on the type of narrative exposure is thus relevant in understanding how narratives can be used to stimulate the development of specific moral orientations.
The current study investigated whether 8-16 year-old children’s moral orientation is congruent with the kinds of fictional narratives that they are exposed to in books. To this end, we differentiated between exposure to eudaimonic narratives (narratives that have a contemplation-inducing effect) and hedonic narratives (narratives that have a pleasurable effect). Previous research suggests that narrative exposure can affect children’s values (Berg-Cross & Berg-Cross, 1978). Furthermore, various studies have demonstrated that literary reading, which is likely to engender eudaimonic gratifications, is associated with enhanced moral reflection and liberal, progressive and postmaterialist opinions (Rattanasampan et al., 2009; Hakemulder, 1995). On this basis, we assumed that exposure to eudaimonic narratives would be associated with endorsement of eudaimonic moral values (such as universalism and benevolence), whereas exposure to hedonic narratives would be associated with a greater orientation towards hedonic moral values (e.g., stimulation and hedonism). We investigated these predictions by providing 92 Dutch children with a questionnaire that required them to report on their reading habits and to characterise their responses to their reading material. In addition to this, their moral orientations were assessed using age-appropriate versions of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwarz et al., 2001). This measure asks participants to what extent they identify with a person described as endorsing a particular moral value (e.g. How much are you like someone who thinks it is important that every person in the world should be treated equally?). The results reveal clear positive correlations between exposure to eudaimonic narratives and eudaimonic values such as universalism and benevolence. Exposure to hedonic narratives correlated with hedonic values such as stimulation. This research thus suggests that it is relevant to assess the type of narratives that the child is exposed to in understanding how narratives can be used in stimulating the development of specific moral orientations.
