Are Harry Potter fans more empathetic? One study suggests that they are. From NY Mag comes the news that a recent paper in a psychological journal found that kids who read the J.K. Rowling series were less prejudiced toward stigmatized groups compared to kids who hadn’t read the books.

In one study, researchers gave high school kids in Northern Italy two questionnaires: one asked about the books they’d read (both Potter and non-Potter) and the other was meant to gauge their attitudes toward gay people. As it turns out, the kids who were bigger Potterphiles — and who identified with the eponymous character — were also more likely to have positive feelings toward gay individuals.

There are caveats, of course: Correlation, as always, doesn’t imply causation, and it’s possible that more empathetic people are naturally drawn to the Potter series, or something. Plus there’s the influence of culture, since I don’t know much about the attitudes toward LGBT rights in Northern Italy, or the reception of the Harry Potter series there, etc.

But! This is still really cool! We’ve already seen studies that suggest reading fiction fosters empathy. Reading stories expands your imagination and puts you into the minds of others; it’s basically empathy practice. But this is the first study I’ve heard of that was so specific in its findings, demonstrating a correlation between the reading of a particular title (or series of titles) and empathy.

And why not? It makes sense that the content of a book, not just the act of reading fiction itself, would have some impact on the empathy fostered in the book’s audience. And as anyone who’s heard of the Harry Potter Alliance can attest, Potter fans are a pretty awesome bunch.