Social value orientation: related to empathy and the ability to read the mind in the eyes

This study explores correlates of social value orientation, a personality trait that reflects a stable individual difference in the way people evaluate outcomes for themselves and others in situations of interdependence. Previous findings (e.g., the triangle hypothesis) have indicated that people with a prosocial orientation tend to view their interacting partners as having heterogeneous social motives, whereas people with a proself orientation tend to believe all people are alike and selfish. Consistent with this idea that people vary in their perception of other's social motives, the data in this study indicate that a prosocial orientation correlated positively with the ability to adopt another person's point of view and infer mental states from eye gazes. These social skills correlated negatively with an individualistic orientation.