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Brave new world: Imaginative fictions offer simulated safety and actual benefits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2022

Jenny E. Nissel  and
Jacqueline D. Woolley Open the ORCID record for Jacqueline D. Woolley [Opens in a new window]
Jenny E. Nissel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA [email protected], [email protected]://labs.la.utexas.edu/woolley/
Jacqueline D. Woolley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA [email protected], [email protected]://labs.la.utexas.edu/woolley/
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Abstract

Human engagement with imaginary worlds pervades history (e.g., Paleolithic cave paintings) and development (e.g., 18-month-olds pretend). In providing a safe environment, separate from the real world, fiction offers the opportunity for simulated exploration regardless of external circumstances. Thus, engagement with imaginary worlds in fiction may afford individuals opportunities to reap benefits and transfer these benefits back to the real world.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e289
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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