Spatial perspective taking is related to social intelligence and attachment style

Abstract

Individuals differ both in spatial and social perspective-taking, yet the links between the two are not well understood. Individuals differ in the spatial perspective they naturally adopt, but also in their ability to change perspectives. The present study investigated whether individual differences in spatial perspective-taking are related to social intelligence and adult attachment style. Spatial perspective-taking was measured using a graphesthesia task, in which ambiguous tactile symbols can be interpreted from different spatial perspectives. The task identified the spatial perspective individuals spontaneously adopted, then assessed the ability to change between natural and unnatural perspectives. Participants demonstrated a cost of switching to an unnatural perspective and a benefit of returning to their natural perspective. A greater cost of switching to an unnatural perspective was associated with lower anxious attachment. A stronger benefit of returning to one's natural perspective was associated with higher social intelligence. These findings suggest that a strong grounding in one's natural spatial perspective is associated with lower interpersonal anxiety and higher social intelligence. Building on these results, future studies should further investigate causal relationships between social and spatial perspective-taking.