The Harry Potter series has been a big hit among kids and adults alike. The fantasy novel series completed two decades, since the first book 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' was published in 1997, and we are not surprised that the franchise is still growing. Adding to Pottermania, a study now claims that reading Harry Potter books might have a deeper, more personal and long term impact on its readers.
People who read Harry Potter are more likely to be tolerant towards minority groups, found a study which was published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
The study examined people of three basic age groups: primary school children, high school students and university students. The authors who conducted the study explained, "We conducted three studies to test whether extended contact through reading the popular best-selling books of Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups (immigrants, homosexuals, refugees). Results from one experimental intervention with elementary school children and from two cross-sectional studies with high school and university students (in Italy and United Kingdom) supported our main hypothesis."
It was also noted that identifying with the protagonist, Harry, truly had a visible impact on those tested. The primary school Potter fans were found to have an improved attitude towards immigrants, the high school readers were found to have more positive perceptions of LGBTQI people, and the university students had improved attitudes toward refugees. "Harry Potter empathizes with characters from stigmatized categories, tries to understand their sufferings and to act towards social equality," study lead Dr. Loris Vezzali said of the story's real powers.
Another study conducted in 2016, found that Harry Potter fans were more likely to have a lower opinion of Donald Trump and his policies.
The study, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Donald?," was written by Professor Diana Mutz. She polled a nationally representative sample of 1,142 Americans in 2014, and again in 2016, asking about their Harry Potter consumption, their attitudes on debates such as the treatment of gays and Muslims, the death penalty, waterboarding, and (in 2016 only) their feelings about Donald Trump on a 0-100 scale.
The study found that each Harry Potter book read lowered respondents' evaluations of Donald Trump by roughly 2-3 points on a 100 point scale.
"This may seem small," Mutz says, "but for someone who has read all seven books, the total impact could lower their estimation of Trump by 18 points out of 100. The size of this effect is at par with the impact of party identification on attitudes toward gays and Muslims."
The study reasons that, "Because Trump's political views are widely viewed as opposed to the values espoused in the Harry Potter series, exposure to the Potter series may play an influential role in affecting how Americans respond to Donald Trump."
The author, who worked for Amnesty International and is outspoken about what she considers unjust, must be proud that her books left such an impact. For while the popularity of the series has had several visible impacts, like a theme park and several movies, these intrinsic ones might be the most profound.