For more than 20 years, Ronald St. Facile has been working in the field of accounting and finance. He is currently the senior accountant for Infinitte LLC. During his leisure hours Ronald St. Facile likes to read, a pastime which has a number of benefits.
One of the benefits of reading fiction is its positive effect on EQ. EQ stands for emotional intelligence, and it refers to our ability to perceive and control our emotions and our ability to be sensitive to the emotions of the people around us. Reading fiction develops critical thinking and empathy, both of which are related to emotional intelligence. A high EQ level makes people more resilient to tough situations and better able to work with others.
Reading fiction improves the ability to sense the psychological state of other people and to act based on the perception - a quality called social acuity.
The characters and situations found in works of fiction provide reference points for difficult discussions. Discussions that depart from easily distinguishable labels such as good and evil take readers into areas where the line between what can be considered good or evil are not so clear-cut, which is the case in many life situations. These reading experiences deepen empathy and encourage open-minded thinking. People who are exposed to and discuss this kind of literature tend to be more open to tackling tough problems.
Another benefit of reading fiction related to EQ is that it helps prevent people from making quick judgments on various issues. The need to decide quickly regarding an issue is called cognitive closure. People with a high need for cognitive closure tend to rush to judgment, and furthermore tend to refuse to change their mind even with the advent of new information. It has been observed that people who read short stories, as opposed to essays, tend to delay decisions and, even after decisions are made, are more open to changing their minds in light of new information.
