The Association Between Social Motivation and Theory of Mind in Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Everyday, individuals must make sense of complex social situations. To do so, individuals must use their theory of mind (ToM). ToM is the ability to identify, explain and predict the mental states of others (e.g. beliefs, emotions; Baron-Cohen et al., 1985). This skill is critical for normal social functioning – poor ToM is associated with both bullying and serious psychiatric disorders (Shakoor et al., 2012; Frith, 2001). In order to prevent the negative outcomes associated with poor social cognition, it is important to understand factors that may be associated with ToM. One factor that may be associated with ToM is social motivation (SM). SM is a set of psychological predispositions that cause an individual to preferentially orient to the social world, to foster social relationships and to take pleasure in social interactions (Chevallier et al., 2012). Individuals with heightened SM may allocate a greater proportion of their attention to others, leading to more opportunities to practice their ToM skills. Hypothesis: I hypothesize that social motivation is positively associated with ToM. Methods: The expected sample includes 60 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18. Participants completed four well-established ToM tasks and a questionnaire on social motivation (Baron-Cohen et al., 1999; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001; Castelli et al., 2002; Drover, 2012; Rudolph et al., 2011). Data collection began August 2015 and will be completed February 2016.