Harry Potter found to reduce prejudice in child readers
Did You know?
JK Rowling wrote a few LGBT-issues into the books, but didn’t explain them until after they were completed:
Dumbledore, the strongest, smartest, and most powerful character in the books was a homosexual, and was in love with a dark wizard that he had to eventually defeat.
Lycanthropy, which causes the afflicted to turn into werewolves, affected character Remus Lupin, and was written to parallel the widespread prejudice and injustice often faced by HIV-positive people.
According to the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, children who read the Harry Potter book series have been found to have greatly reduced prejudices against immigrants, LGBT people, and other stigmatized groups.
For those who may not know, one of the main themes within Harry Potter is love and acceptance. Throughout the series, the antagonists are prejudiced against non-wizards and wish to control and enslave them, while the protagonists fight for non-wizard freedom and equality.
A study was first performed with 34 Italian elementary school students in which half read and discussed excerpts from the Harry Potter books that specifically talked about prejudice, while the other half discussed unrelated novels. The children took a questionnaire before and after reading their assignments and researchers found that of the children who read (and identified with) Harry Potter, scores showed “improved attitudes towards immigrants.”
A second study done with 117 Italian high school students simply asked how many books of the series they had read, who they identified with, and measured their attitudes towards LGBT people. This study found those students who identified with Harry Potter had favorable views of LGBT people.
Research reported on Pacific Standard’s website, found here. (and they have a much cooler article title: “Harry Potter and the Battle of Bigotry.”)
