Abstract

LEDESMA-AMAYA, Luis; GARCIA CRUZ, Rubén; GUZMAN-SALDANA, Rebeca  and  BOSQUES-BRUGADA, Lilian. Adolescent theory of mind assessment. Universidad y Sociedad [online]. 2022, vol.14, n.3, pp. 395-402.  Epub June 30, 2022. ISSN 2218-3620.

The Theory of Mind (TM) is a function capable of attributing mental states, desires, emotions, and beliefs to understand and predict the behavior of others. The objective of this research was to deepen the study of TM and its differences, between men and women in the stage of adolescence. Two samples were used (n1= 108 and n2=200) with a total of 308 male (n=152) and female (n=157) adolescent participants from Mexico. Reading the Mind in the Eye Test sand the self-applicable empathy test for adolescents were used. Regarding the results, it was found that adolescent women appeared with higher scores in the TM test (t = -2.002, p =.049), while in the empathy test there were no differences in this regard. In the comparisons between ages, associated differences were found (F=12.37, p= 0.01). The study of WM allows us to understand the impulsive behaviors and consequent maladaptive decision-making that adolescents frequently manifest, resulting in risk behaviors that hinder their full development. The superiority of the female gender in this domain reveals the importance of the cultural redefinition of gender roles, a fact that influences biological-brain mechanisms.

Keywords : Adolescence; Affective Theory of Mind; Cognitive Theory of Mind; Empathy; social cognition.

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