Relations between temperament and theory of mind development in the United States and China

Biological and behavioral correlates of preschoolers' false-belief understanding

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9787002
AutoresJonathan D Lane (0000-0002-0792-6653, Foundation for Growth Science, autor correspondente), Henry M Wellman (0000-0001-6745-6959, Foundation for Growth Science), Sheryl L Olson (0000-0002-2457-2607, Foundation for Growth Science), A L Miller (0000-0002-9866-0204, Foundation for Growth Science), Li Wang (0000-0002-3460-2080, Peking University), Twila Tardif (0000-0001-8739-9090)
Ano2013
Volume49
Fascículo5
Páginas825-836
Data de publicação2013-05-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDevelopmental Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599
EditoraAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/a0028825
PMID22686170
OpenAlexW2160892839
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas12
Referências citadas23

The emotional reactivity hypothesis holds that, over the course of phylogeny, the selection of animals with less reactive temperaments supported the development of sophisticated social-cognitive skills in several species, including humans (Hare, 2007). In the ontogenetic human case, an emotional reactivity hypothesis predicts that children with less reactive temperaments will reach certain milestones in theory-of-mind (ToM) development more quickly. We examined relations between temperament and false-belief understanding in 102 preschool-age children from China and the United States. Temperament was measured via parental ratings of behavior as well as with physiological measures of children's reactivity (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis reactivity gauged via salivary cortisol). In accord with an emotional reactivity hypothesis, children with certain reactive temperaments--specifically, those who were more aggressive and those who were both socially withdrawn and physiologically reactive--evidenced poorer social-cognition. However, our findings also force amendment to the ontogenetic emotional reactivity hypothesis. For the majority of children in both countries, physiological reactivity predicted more advanced ToM, perhaps by facilitating social engagement and attention to social stimuli. Moreover, children who were withdrawn from social interaction yet nonreactive, especially Chinese children of this temperament, evidenced advanced ToM. Thus, some forms of social disengagement may foster social-cognitive development in certain sociocultural contexts

Child development · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Disengagement theory · Personality · Reactivity (psychology · Social cognition · Social cognitive theory · Social information processing · Temperament · Theory of mind · Child and Animal Learning Development · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology