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Theory of Mind in Preadolescence: Connections Among Social Understanding, Self-Concept, and Social Relations

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Theory of Mind in Preadolescence: Connections Among Social Understanding, Self-Concept, and Social Relations THEORY OF MIND IN PREADOLESCENCE: CONNECTIONS AMONG SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING, SELF-CONCEPT, AND SOCIAL RELATIONS Sandra Leanne Bosacki A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto O Copyright by Sandra Leanne Bosacki 1998 National Library Bibliothwue nationale l*P of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services sewices bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 OttawaON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distniute or sell reproduire, preter, distriiuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/filrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the bitd7auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la t]h&seni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent Etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract Theory of mind in preadolescence: Connections among social understanding, self-concept, and social relations Doctor of Philosophy, 1998 Sandra Leanne Bosacki Graduate Department of Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto The investigation of the ability to attribute mental states to others and to see them as the basis for people's actions has been referred to as "theory of mind (TOM) research. That is, TOM research attempts to explain how children come to understand social action in both themselves and others. Despite the rising interest in this approach to social understanding, empirical evidence gleaned from the early adolescent years remains sparse. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to assess social understanding in preadolescents from a TOMperspective, and to determine if such understanding relates to concepts of self and social relations differently in girls and boys. It was hypothesized that preadolescents' ability to understand thoughts and emotions in others would be associated with their sense of self and their social-relational ability. One hundred and twenty-eight preadolescents @ = 11;9 years; 64 girls, 64 boys) completed a self-concept questionnaire, vocabulary tasks, peer social competence ratings and participated in an interview that involved two ambiguous social narratives followed by questions to assess social and self-understanding. Teacher ratings of the participants' classroom behaviour were also collected. Based on composite social story scores, results indicated positive associations between children's social understanding and a) perceptions of their behavioural conduct, b) ability to understand their own mental states and feelings and c) social competence ratings. Separate gender analysis revealed different correlational patterns among the variables. More specifically, multiple regression and multivariate analyses showed that among girls, global self-worth (i.e., reported personal happiness) acted as a moderator between social understanding and social competence ratings whereas this was not found for boys. Results are discussed in relation to (I) individual differences in social understanding, self- concept and social relations and (2) effects of socio-cultural context. Educational implications include theoretical foundation for developments in holistic curriculum for preadolescents. In conclusion, the present findings may increase educators' awareness of the inner world of girls and boys in the sixth grade which in turn may further the discourse on social cognition and holistic education. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to my advisor, Janet Wilde Astington for her constant guidance and support throughout this endeavour. I should also like to thank the other members of my thesis committee, David Booth and Mary Lou Arnold for providing me with valuable insights and advice. I also wish to express my thanks to the additional members of my examination committee, Anne McKeough, Jack Miller, and David Olson for their comments on the manuscript I wish to thank Susan Elgie for her personal time and statistical expertise and Deepthi Kamawar, Theresa McCarthy, and Janette PeUetier for their support on both academic and personal levels. Finally, a special thanks goes out to Mr. Dennis Tschirhart and to all the principals, teachers, and students who participated in this study. In particular, I am grateful to the Institute of Child Study Laboratory School in Toronto, Ontario for their participation in the pilot study and to the Brant Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board for their participation in the main study. Without their cooperation, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible. Above all, I wish to thank my parents and sister Leslie, for their constant emotional support over the past three years. In times of uncertainty, they provided me with the love and strength I needed to continue my work TABLE OF CONTENTS .. Abstract II Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents v List of Tables X List of Figures xii ... List of Appendices XUl I. Introduction 1.1. General Problem 1 -2. Present Study 1-3. Sipficance of This Study 1.4. Outline of Subsequent Chapters 11. Literature Review 2.1 . Introduction 2.2. Theory of Mind: A New Approach to Social-Cognitive Development 2.3. Theories of Theories of Mind 2 -4. Overview of Theories of TOM 2.5. Theory of Mind in Childhood 2 -6. Preadolescent Theory of Mind: A Case for Complexity 2.6.1. Conceptual Role-Taking 2.6.2. Empathetic Sensitivity 2.6.3. Person Perception 2.6.4. Self-conception and Self-Understanding 2.6-5. Language, Communication and Social Relations 2.7. Social Understanding, Self-concept and Social Relations in Preadolescence 2.8. Gender Effects 2.9. Summary m. Research Questions and Hypotheses 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Research Questions 3 -3. Hypotheses 3 -4. Rationale of the Research Design N. Method 4.1 . Introduction 4 -2. Instnunentation 4.2.1. Development of New Social Understanding Measures 52 4.2.2. Assessment of an Understanding of Higher-Order Mental States 53 4.2.3. Codhg of Social Understanding Narratives (Social and Self- Understanding Interview - Part A - Interpersonal Understanding) 6 1 Scoring of Conceptual Role-taking Questions (Section A) Interval level data 64 Nominal or categorical level data 66 Scoring of Empathetic Sensitivity Questions (Section B) Interval level data 66 Nominal or categorical level data 68 Scoring of Person Perception Questions (Section C) Interval level data 68 Nominal or categorical level data 69 Scoring of Alternative Explanation (Section D) Interval level data 70 Nominal or categorical level data 70 4.2.4. Total Social Understanding Story Score 7 1 4.2.5. Between-S tory Correlations and Differences 73 4.2.6. Self-concept 74 Self-perception Profile for Children (SPPC) 75 Social and Self-understanding Interview (part B) - Intra- personal Understanding 76 Coding of the self-understanding interview 77 Assessment of understanding self-esteem as a concept 79 Response coding for self-esteem question 79 4.2.7. Social Relations 80 Teacher's Rating Scale of Child's Actual Behaviour (TRF) 80 Peer-rated Social Competence 8 1 Peer-rated Likability (Per Acceptance) 82 4.2.8. Vocabulary Measures 82 Mental State Verbs Task (MVT) 83 Scoring of MVT 84 Gates-MacGinitie Vocabulary Test 84 4.2.9. Summary of Instnunents 85 4.3. Participants 85 4.4. Procedure 87 4.4.1. Establishing Contact and Consent 4.4.2. Administration of the SPPC, SCNF, Peer Likability Scale, Gates-MacGinitie Vocabulary Test and the MVT 4.4.3. Administration of the Social and Self-understanding Interview (Inter-Intrapersonal Understanding) Debriefing 4.4.4. Summary of Data Analyses Results: Preliminary Analyses 5.1. Overview 5.2. Descriptive Statistics 5.2.1. Distribution of Scores 5.2.2. Assessment of Social Understanding 5.2.3. Order Effects of Tasks 5 -2-4. School Effects 5.2 -5. Gender Main Effects 5 -2-6. Teacher-Gender X Student-Gender Interaction Effects 5.3. Correlational and Regression Analyses 5 -3.1. Social Understanding and Self-Concept 5 -3-2. Mental State Verb Understanding, Self-Concept and Social Relations 5 -3-3. Social Understanding and Self-understanding 5 -3-4. Social Understanding and Social Relations Social understanding and peer-ratings of social competence Social understanding and teacher-ratings of children's behaviour 5 -3-5. Self-Concept and Social Relations (Peer and Teacher Ratings) 5.3.6. Sibling Effects 5.4. Summary Results: Hypothesis Testing of Mediation and Moderation Models 6.1. Overview 6.2. Testing Self-Concept as a Mediator 6.3. Testing Self-Concept as a Moderator 6.3.1. Perceived Global Self-worth as a Moderator Between Social Understanding and Social Relations Characteristics of higMow groups based on social understanding ability and perceived global self-worth of vii girls and boys 6.4. Summary W. Results: Further Analyses of Social Understanding Stories and Self-Understanding Interview 7.1. Overview 7.2. Social Understanding Stories 7.2.1. Emotional Valence of Social Understanding Story Responses 7.3. Self-understanding Interview 7.3.1. Analyses of Perceived Global Self-worth Justifications 7.3.2. Analyses of Self-Esteem Definitions 7.4. Summary VPII. Discussion Introduction Support for the Hypotheses 8.2.1. Social Understanding, Self-Concept and Social Relations Intervening role of self-concept between social understanding and social relations 8.2.2. Gender Differences 8.2.3. Additional Important Findings 8.2.4. Additional Si,@icant Findings (Categorical Level Data) Meaning of Findings (Interval Level Data) 8.3.1. Relations among Social Understanding, Self-Concept and Social Relations 8.3.2. Social Understanding and Mental State Verb Understanding 8.3.3.
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