Maria Trimble

13, April 2017

Dr. Kellner
Academic Journal
Fiction or Fiction?
In 2014, the Department of Literary Theory at the University of Wroclaw

located in Wroclaw, Poland, created a study. Plos ONE published the study in

December 2016 that was constructed two years prior. The focus of the study was to

see if ones awareness of animal welfare increased or decreased based on a piece of

fiction writing. Two groups of both sexes were examined. The Experimental group

was provided with an animal-related story, whereas the Control group was not.

Immediately after reading the article, the participants filled out a questionnaire to

view their impressions of what they read. After both sexes were fully examined, it

was determined that women in both groups had a higher awareness of animal

welfare than men; however, the men who did have animals had a higher awareness

than those that did not.

I believe this is a valid study with accurate data. Those who witness animal

abuse, in person or through reading about it, tend to feel more sympathetic and

more aware of an animals health and surrounding than those who do not.

Performing an experiment like this could bring more awareness to those who

previously had little to none. Studying both sexes and multiple people allows for

more, and more accurate data.

Maecki, Wojciech, et al. "Literary Fiction Influences Attitudes toward Animal

Welfare." Plos ONE, vol. 11, no. 12, 22 Dec. 2016, pp. 1-9. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168695.