Journal of Education and Training Studies Vol. 9, No. 1; January 2021 ISSN 2324-805X E-ISSN 2324-8068 Published by Redfame Publishing URL: http://jets.redfame.com 12 The Association Between Reading and Emotional Development: A Systematic Review Federico Batini 1 , Valerio Luperini 1 , Eleonora Cei 1 , Diego Izzo 1 , Giulia Toti 1 1 Department of Philosophy, Social & Human Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, Italy Correspondence: Federico Batini, Department of Philosophy, Social & Human Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, Piazza G. Ermini, 1 - 06123 – Perugia, PG. E-mail: federico.batini@unipg.it Received: October 22, 2020 Accepted: November 26, 2020 Online Published: December 6, 2020 doi:10.11114/jets.v9i1.5053 URL: https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v9i1.5053 Abstract Reading practice is associated with numerous psychological benefits. However, its influence over individual emotional dimensions has generally been underestimated by research. Only recently has it been recognized across different developmental stages but evidence is still scarce. The aim of this systematic review is to shed light over the association between reading and the several (and sometimes hardly distinguishable) socio-emotional constructs that we have identified in literature: interpersonal skills and prosocial behavior; emotional and behavioral symptoms; emotional regulation and expression; empathy and theory of mind; emotional knowledge and comprehension; and emotional responses. A total of 50 studies were analyzed, including all age groups, various settings, research drawings, and different emotional constructs in order to create a comprehensive view of the association between reading and emotions. Results show that overall reading practice has a positive impact on socio-emotional development, whatever its declination, regardless of age, gender or setting of implementation. Keywords: reading; read-aloud; emotion; socio-emotional competence; emotional development 1. Introduction Reading is based on interactive processes between the reader and the text (McCreary & Marchant, 2017); indeed, while involved in this activity, the reader creates meaning and decides what information is essential. As underlined by McCreary and Marchant (2017), reading is closely linked to critical thinking (Abu-Shihab, 2011) and requires a great number of abilities. It fosters a better comprehension of information (Wallot, O’Brien, Haussmann, Kloos, & Lyby, 2014) and the use of learning strategies (Lim, Bong, & Woo, 2015). The cognitive benefits of reading are well known, for example, on expressive and receptive language (Mendelsohn et al., 2001), vocabulary learning and story comprehension (Bus, Takacs, & Kegel, 2015; Dore et al., 2018) or problem-solving and communication (Murray & Egan, 2014). However, although still scarce, recent empirical research has underlined that reading also has positive impacts on other abilities related to socioemotional competencies, in particular those identified with the label of “social understandings”. These refer to the ability to understand and sympathize with others’ emotions, cognitions and motivations, which is crucial to fostering the development of adaptive relational resources (Carpendale & Lewis, 2006). Moreover, these elements are part of the broader area of socioemotional competence, that includes important skills needed to manage our inner states and to relate to others. These abilities are developed in responsive and safe environments that involve reading practices as a key instrument to support this growth (Santos, Fettig, & Shaffer, 2012; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). 1.1 A difficult Concept to Define “Socioemotional competence” is an umbrella term. Under this label are often grouped many different psychological aspects that sometimes overlap each other, such as “social understandings”, “empathy”, “emotional intelligence”, “Theory of mind”. These are some of the most common concepts. However, even defining these singular terms can be complex. Unclear or divergent descriptions of empathy are common across research literature, as well as inconsistent means of measuring it (Gerdes, Segal, & Lietz, 2010). However, before proceeding, we will try to set a definition for each of these concepts. With “Empathy” we mean a construct that includes affective (the emotional reaction toward or with a person or a character) and cognitive dimensions (the competence to assume others’ perspective or imaging oneself in the place of another person or character) (Junker & Jacquemin, 2017). Moreover, empathy is not an innate