Relationship between Theory of Mind and Family Variables

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Relationship between Theory of Mind and Family Variables

Theory of mind entails understanding the knowledge, emotions, beliefs, and intentions of other persons and utilizing that understanding to recognize and navigate social situations. It is an essential aspect of the development process of children because it is associated with social competence that influences executive function (Schaafsma et al., 2015). Family contexts such as family social-economics status, mental state talk, mind-mindedness, and siblings’ number directly impact on the development of the theory of mind. Several empirical studies have examined the relationship between family variables and the development of the theory of mind. Overall, the family variables such as economic status, number of siblings, and mental talk state influence the development of the theory of mind since children learn and acknowledge some of these variables to help them navigate in the social situations.

Literature Review

Siblings impact on the theory of mind understanding among children because of the playtime they share. Shahaenian (2015) in a study that included 142 children between the age of 4 and 5 years did not establish any correlation between the number of siblings and the theory of mind development among children. However, they found that the number of days children played together with their siblings and parental interference level in conflict among siblings was directly associated with the theory of mind understanding. Calero et al. (2013), in a study to examine the differences in the theory of mind among boys, found that other factors such as birth order, number of siblings, and coarse personality traits did not have a significant relationship with the results of the theory of mind tasks. In this view, the number of siblings or birth order does not impact theory development, but associative factors such as playtime influence it.

Parents who express mind-mindedness influences the performance of theory of mind development among children. Hughes, Devine, and Wang (2017), in a cross-cultural study, investigated parental mind-mindedness and children’s theory of mind using a sample of 241 parent-child dyads from Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The study showed that within the two cultures, parental mind-mindedness was directly associated with the theory of mind, and mind-mindedness contributed to the cultural differences in the theory of mind of preschoolers. In the study, the UK parents illustrated a greater mind-mindedness, and their children also had a superior performance in the theory of mind compared to the Hong Kong sample. In this view, parents with a higher level of mind-mindedness influence the development of the theory of mind of their children. Mind-mindedness is the tendency of caregivers to view a child as a person with a mind as opposed to an individual with needs that should be satisfied.

The collaborative acts and social constructions of parents influence the development of children’s theory of mind. With age, children always acknowledge that human actions are guided and governed by mental states, and their desires, beliefs, emotions, and intentions may differ from that of others. Sung and Hsu (2014), in a longitudinal study, examined the effect of mother-toddler collaborative communication on the development of the theory of mind at the age of 4. They found that the higher level of collaborative acts of a mother positively impacted on the development of the theory of mind when a child is engaged in higher collaborative acts level. However, children contribute to their development when they actively participate in supportive co-constructed collaborative conversations. In this case, parents are viewed as facilitators of the development process of the theory of mind. Overall, child and maternal collaborative acts indicate that family-centered initiatives with mother-child dyads impact theory of mind development.

The relationship between siblings and parental influence in their interaction influences the development of the theory of mind. Song and Volling (2018) in a study that involved 208 firstborn and their parents, investigated children’s Theory of Mind of a sibling before and after birth and their interaction as well as parental discipline strategies. The study showed that the Theory of Mind among children before the birth of a sibling indicated a positive interaction with the young sibling. In contrast, antagonistic behavior directed towards a young sibling negatively influenced the theory of mind at 12 months mainly when a parent utilizes the low level of child-centered discipline. The results show the role of patents in the process of social cognitive understanding among young children in the context of sibling interaction. Song et al. (2016), in a study involving firstborns and siblings aggressive behavior, concluded that firstborn’s aggression directly predicted greater sibling antagonism. These results indicate influence among siblings across social-cognitive, behavioral, and relational factors from early life years.

Social-economic status background of children influences the development of the theory of mind. Molzhon (2016) studied the effect of the socioeconomic background of children on the relationship between the executive function and theory of mind. The study indicated a positive correlation between socioeconomic status and executive function. Besides, it offered evidence that the theory of mind is relatively protected from the negative impacts of low socioeconomic status (Molzhon, 2016). However, based on the findings, one can illustrate that the social-economic background affects the theory of mind since it influences the executive functions of the children. In this case, children from a low social-economic experience tend to have little executive function development compared t those from a stable socioeconomic background.

Conclusion

The relationship between family variables and the theory of mind is not conclusively examined based on the review of some empirical studies. Some studies indicate a positive relationship between the number of siblings and the theory of mind, while the reviewed literature does not indicate any association. However, there is a correlation between the theory of mind and socioeconomic status background of children. Besides, siblings’ behavior towards one another and parental discipline strategies impact the development of the theory of mind. Moreover, the studies also show that there is a relationship between collaborative acts of a parent and the theory of mind among children. Therefore, family variables such as parental support and discipline strategies, mind-mindedness, and siblings’ behavior influence theory of mind development among children.

References

Calero, C. I., Salles, A., Semelman, M., & Sigman, M. (2013). Age and gender dependent development of Theory of Mind in 6-to 8-years old children. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 7, 281.

Hughes, C., Devine, R. T., & Wang, Z. (2018). Does parental mind‐mindedness account for cross‐cultural differences in preschoolers’ theory of mind?. Child development, 89(4), 1296-1310.

Molzhon, A. (2016). Exploring the Influence of Socioeconomic Status on the Executive Function and Theory of Mind Skills of Preschoolers.

Schaafsma, S. M., Pfaff, D. W., Spunt, R. P., & Adolphs, R. (2015). Deconstructing and reconstructing theory of mind. Trends in cognitive sciences, 19(2), 65-72.

Shahaeian, A. (2015). Sibling, family, and social influences on children’s theory of mind understanding: New evidence from diverse intracultural samples. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(6), 805-820.

Shahaeian, A., Nielsen, M., Peterson, C. C., & Slaughter, V. (2014). Cultural and family influences on children’s theory of mind development: A comparison of Australian and Iranian school-age children. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(4), 555-568.

Song, J. H., & Volling, B. L. (2018). Theory‐of‐M ind development and early sibling relationships after the birth of a sibling: Parental discipline matters. Infant and child development, 27(1), e2053.

Sung, J., & Hsu, H. C. (2014). Collaborative mother–toddler communication and theory of mind development at age 4. Journal of applied developmental psychology, 35(5), 381-391.