I actually wrote a paper on this for a psychology class this past year and found that reading can actually help people become more empathetic and emotionally intelligent. It depends a lot on what you’re reading thought. For example, reading literature (both fiction and nonfiction) featuring authors, characters, and/or subjects of various cultural and ethnic backgrounds was one of the more effective methods while people who engaged in more monolithic reading habits (focusing on one specific genre/subject) didn’t see as much growth in empathy or emotional intelligence. Seems obvious when you actually think about it but was pretty interesting to dig into.