Understanding the associations between Psychological Mindedness and Social Perspective Taking in Young People

Abstract

This study was set to examine the associations between psychological mindedness (PM) and social perspective taking (SPT). Previous literature suggests that these constructs contribute to an enhanced performance in the mental health profession, possibly because they are featured by a developed theory of mind. An online questionnaire was developed using the Balanced Index of Psychological Mindedness (BIPM) and two adapted versions to measure PM about other people as well as to measure PM about thoughts and behavior. A reduced version of the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding and a newly developed scale were used to measure SPT. Responses from 135 participants aged between 18 and 32 were collected. A one-way ANOVA test showed that women scored higher than men in the understanding ability of SPT. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis revealed that PM about self could not predict any dimensions of SPT (understanding and importance) while PM about other people could predict the importance dimension of SPT as well as the construct as a whole. Overall this study provides insight on to the relationship between these two theoretically-linked constructs. The practical implications of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed with directions for future research.