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What can a book about a young wizard battling a villain who drinks unicorn blood teach children about real-life challenges? Quite a bit, according to a study by researchers in Italy. As reported by Pacific Standard, kids who read Harry Potter tend to develop more inclusive attitudes towards marginalized communities.
In the study, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology in 2015, the research team examined three groups of readers. The first group consisted of 34 fifth-grade students from Italy, who were asked to respond to questions about their views on immigrants. Afterward, they participated in discussions on select Harry Potter passages for six weeks. Students who focused on passages about prejudice and identified with the main character showed improved attitudes towards immigrants.
In the second part of the study, the researchers surveyed 117 Italian high school students. Those who read more of the Harry Potter series and felt a personal connection to Harry exhibited a more accepting attitude toward gay individuals.
The researchers also gathered data from 71 undergraduate students in the UK. This time, they aimed to explore how Harry Potter might shape readers’ views on refugees. Unlike the previous groups, the college students who identified with Harry did not show a greater likelihood of accepting the marginalized group—possibly because older readers may find it harder to connect with a younger character, regardless of personality. However, if they also reported no connection to Voldemort, their attitudes toward refugees were more likely to be positive.
As an adult, it’s easy to spot the metaphors for racial politics in the Harry Potter books. The terms used by Voldemort and the Death Eaters to describe “pure blood” wizards and “mudblood” muggle-borns strongly resemble Nazi terminology. However, as the research shows, young readers don’t need to be aware of these real-world connections to understand the story's underlying message.
