Adults’ Dispositional and Situational Perspective-Taking: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Social perspective-taking is a multifaceted skill set, involving the disposition, motivation, and contextual attempts to consider and understand other individuals. It is essential for appropriate behavior in teaching contexts and social life that has been investigated across various research traditions. Because social perspective-taking enables flexible reappraisals of social situations, it can facilitate more harmonious social interactions. We aimed to systematically review the disparate literature focusing on adults’ social perspective-taking to answer the overarching question: Are there findings on factors that positively or negatively related to adults’ social perspective-taking as possible protective factor for mental health? Specific questions were which internal or external factors are related to either dispositional or situation-specific social perspective-taking and are both forms related to each other, or do they vary independently of each other in response to these factors? We reviewed 92 studies published in 56 articles in last ten years including 213,095 healthy adults to answer these questions. The findings suggested several factors (e.g., gender, perceived social interactions) related to the dispositional form. Negative relationships to self-reported or tested (cortisol levels) distress suggested dispositional social perspective-taking as a protective factor for mental health. Dispositional social perspective-taking related to the situational form and some findings suggested changes in both forms through intervention. Thus, coordinating different perspectives on oneself or others reflects flexibility in behavior related to positive social and mental health outcomes.