Adolescent Egocentrism and Theory of Mind: In the Context of Family Relations

Abstract

While dealing with the issues of theory of mind (ToM) and false belief, the author realized that adolescents have similar false beliefs to those of children, but in a more complex manner. These false beliefs seem to be related to a typical developmental issue called “egocentrism.” Participants in this study were 11 adolescents (ages 16–18) and their families from a middle SES high school. ToM stories and new imaginary audience and personal fable categories were examined. Every adolescent was interviewed about his or her family relationships. To observe them all together, the author wanted to analyze adolescents' most sophisticated relations: family relations. The results seemed to indicate that in the context of their family, adolescents have more emotional inference than social inference or intentions – that is, they have more thoughts about their parents' feelings. If they have to describe their parents' relations, they seem to have more ToM (overall inference).

A longitudinal study of children's theory of mind, self-concept, and perceptions of humor in self and other

“…To assess ToM understanding, researchers read aloud two brief vignettes that describe an ambiguous social event with three children. Building on research in which the ToM is viewed as an instrument that can be used to coconstruct or narrate one's social reality (Bruner, 1996), and studies in which advanced ToM has been investigated through the use of narratives (Artar, 2007), in this task ToM was assessed through the children's interpretation of meaning from ambiguous stories. The stories were socially ambiguous because past researchers have found children's interpretations of ambiguous social situations to be an effective method of eliciting children's representational understanding of mind and emotion (Dodge & Frame, 1982).…”

The perceptions and experiences of adolescent boys with autism spectrum disorder: A personal construct psychology perspective

“…Identity development, or forming a sense of self, is a central component of adolescence (Artar, 2007). According to PCT, a person forms a sense of identity with the development of highly complex constructs, referred to as core constructs (Butler, 2006;Kelly, 1955).…”

“…Additionally, identity development is considered a largely social process as it involves interpretation of implicit and explicit feedback from others (Artar, 2007;Butler, 2006;Rowe, 2003;Walker, 1996;Willey, 2003;Ybrandt, 2008), which adolescents with ASD typically find difficult. Together, these factors have resulted in the prediction that adolescents with ASD will have difficulty developing a sense of identity (Cottenceau et al, 2012;Procter, 2001).…”

The phenomenon of adolescents placing pressure on their parents

“…However, adolescents develop formal operational thinking that enables them to imagine a variety of alternative possibilities and scenarios (Kroger 2007). Research findings indicate that adolescents are often critical of others, especially their parents (Wadsworth 1996), and may be less likely to correctly infer parents' thoughts and emotions (Artar 2007). These studies indicate the possibility that formal operational thinking can lead to conflict with parents and consequently pressurising behaviour on the part of the adolescent.…”