Cross-cultural differences in children’s theory of mind in Iran and New Zealand: The role of caregiver mental state talk

Abstract

We examined the effect of parent–child conversations about the mind on cross-cultural differences in theory-of-mind sequencing and performance. Mothers from Iran (n = 60) and New Zealand (n = 60) described a wordless picture book and completed the ‘describe your child task’, and the children completed the 5-step ToM task battery. New Zealand children conformed to the Anglo-Western sequence and scored higher on their total ToM. There were similarities between the two groups in the extent to which mothers referred to mental states and used mindminded attributes when describing their children. There was specificity however, in the relative use of different types of mental states and the referent of these mental states. Iranian mothers referred more to desires, and to others' mental states, whereas New Zealand mothers referred more to cognitions, and to child-directed mental states. Child-directed mental state talk (and not mindmindedness) explained cultural differences in total ToM performance, and children who passed knowledge access before diverse beliefs tasks had mothers who referred more to their own mental states.