The greatest magic of J.K. Rowling’s books? Reducing prejudice.
A study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that J.K. Rowling's books have been helping fight prejudice by altering young people's perception towards stigmatised groups.
AP Photo/Matt Dunham
A report by Pacific Standard describes how researchers conducted three studies with students at Italian and British schools.
The students then completed a six-week course in which one half read and discussed selected passages from Harry Potter novels that tackled issues of prejudice, and the other half discussed unrelated topics from the novels. When the course ended, all 34 students completed a second questionnaire about their views on immigrants.
Researchers found that the students who read and discussed the issue of prejudice in the novels had "improved attitudes towards immigrants", but only if they identified themselves with the main character, Harry Potter. The children also noted the similarities between Harry's defence of "mudbloods" and the unfair prejudices held towards immigrants.
Kirstin Mckee/Kirstin Mckee
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