Gender trumps politics in determining people's ability to read others'
minds

Date:
May 24, 2023
Source:
University of Bath
Summary:
Researchers at the University of Bath surveyed over 4,000 people
to test social ability and found that being female and educated
are some of the best predictors for how well you get on with and
understand others.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Political parties regularly claim to have their finger on the pulse and
be able to read the public mood. Yet a new study challenges the idea that
being political makes you good at understanding others: it shows gender,
not politics, is a far more important factor in determining people's
social skills.

Analysis of a sample of 4,000 people from across the UK, compiled by a
team of psychologists at the University of Bath, highlights that being
female and educated are the biggest determinants of whether you can
understand or read others' minds.

For their study the psychologists looked at qualities associated with understanding others such as agreeableness, picking up on subtle clues
and self-reflection. In psychology, this is known as 'theory of mind': the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them.

The team stress these results represent averages, but they say their study
is an important reminder about the drivers of agreement and disagreement
in public life. Their findings are published today (Wednesday 24 June)
in the journal PLOS One.

Age was only associated with understanding others in later life: on
average, older people had poorer ability to understand other people.

Dr Punit Shah, Senior author, Associate Professor and leading expert
on social cognitive processing at the University of Bath explains:
"In a world where it seems increasingly difficult to hold and express
different points of view, it is crucial that we understand the barriers
to connecting with other people.

"Political views are often thought of as such a barrier, but our research actually shows that a person's politics is not, in fact, linked to how
well they understand others.

"Importantly, we didn't just find an absence of evidence for a political
link in the study. The analyses also provided evidence of absence for
this link.

This is a socially important finding that might help to break down some artificially constructed barriers between people and ultimately improve understanding between different people in our society." Shah argues
that the link between being educated and female and better understanding
other perspectives is also important.

He adds: "Historically male perspectives have been prioritised in
society. We are of course seeing this narrative diminish over time, and research like ours adds extra evidence to highlight the important role
of education and being female for social understanding and cohesion
in society -- far more so than politics." To conduct the research,
the team asked members of the public to provide details about their socio-demographic background, as well as to score their political beliefs (ranging from 1 = very liberal, to 7 = very conservative).

They also used a 'mindreading test' to ascertain how well participants understood what other people are thinking.

This test -- developed by the same team in 2021 -- asks a series of
simple statements, such as: 'I can usually understand another person's viewpoint, even if it differs from my own'; and 'I find it easy to put
myself in somebody else's shoes'.

Lead researcher, Dr Rachel Clutterbuck, emphasised that these findings
could improve our understanding of social differences between people:
"The reasons for why some people are better at understanding others
are not well understood, but this research provides a glimpse into some individual differences, such as gender, which may help to explain these
social differences.

"Our results are new because the study considered so many factors --
like gender, education, age, and politics -- in tandem, rather than
looking at them separately as often happens. When we do this, it is
clear to see that gender is, by far, most strongly linked to how well
others are understood. This finding highlights the complexity of social
life and reminds us to consider the various factors that may contribute
to understanding and getting on with someone."
* RELATED_TOPICS
o Mind_&_Brain
# Gender_Difference # Social_Psychology # Relationships #
Multiple_Sclerosis # Psychology # Behavior # Perception
# Racial_Issues
* RELATED_TERMS
o Autism o Aptitude o Social_cognition o Social_psychology
o Mensa_International o Mirror_test o Psycholinguistics
o Education

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bath. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Rachel A. Clutterbuck, Mitchell J. Callan, Punit
Shah. Socio-demographic
and political predictors of Theory of Mind in adulthood. PLOS ONE,
2023; 18 (5): e0284960 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284960 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230524181809.htm

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