Reading Harry Potter novels boosts tolerance, says study

Research suggests books emphasize value of differences

Reading the Harry Potter series of novels about a boy wizard and his schoolmates is good for children because it helps them to grow up with fewer prejudices by showing them a world of different sorts of people, says a new study.

That can extend to greater acceptance of homosexuals, transgender individuals and immigrants, concludes the research involving four universities and published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

The Harry Potter novels include characters with a wide range of abilities, backgrounds, sizes, and shapes often working together for common goals. Tolerance, and the problems that stem from intolerance, are a frequent theme in the stories.

The researchers examined changing attitudes among students of all ages who had read the Harry Potter books.