Today is the birthday of both Harry Potter and his creator, author J.K. Rowling. I’m an unashamed Potterhead, for many reasons, and was thrilled to see results of a new academic study indicating that reading the Harry Potter series can help reduce prejudices.
The research, led by Loris Vezzali of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, appears in the July issue of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. It found that, based on studies of elementary, high school, and university students, “extended contact through reading the popular best-selling books of Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups (immigrants, homosexuals, refugees).” I imagine that for most adults who have read the books, this isn’t hard to believe. Issues of class, race, bullying, and oppression drive much of the storyline — and Rowling always makes her sense of social justice shine through. It’s gratifying to know this message isn’t lost on younger readers.
In a Pacific-Standard article on the study, Tom Jacobs further explains that the researchers think this happens because of “the books’ ability to prompt readers to view society from the viewpoint of a disparaged minority.” Children who may not pick up a book that is explicitly about a stigmatized group, he opines, “may very well read a fantasy story like the Harry Potter novels, where such messages are effectively embedded in the middle of a gripping, imaginative storyline.”
Kingsley Shacklebolt, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, put it most clearly: “We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”
