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Mind-mindedness versus mentalistic interpretations of behavior: Is mind-mindedness a relational construct?
Fionnuala Larkin1,2, Robin Schacht3, Janine Oostenbroek1
1Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
Infant Mental Health Journal
|December 16, 2020
Summary
Mind-mindedness, the tendency to view others through their mental states, did not generalize to interpreting unknown individuals. This relational construct appears specific to close relationships in adults.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Mind-mindedness, understanding others via internal states, is key for parent-infant bonding.
- Research has primarily focused on close relationships, leaving generalization to unknown individuals unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if mind-mindedness extends to interpreting the behavior of unfamiliar individuals.
- To assess individual differences in adults' tendency to attribute mental states to others in novel social contexts.
Main Methods:
- Development and application of the Unknown Mother-Infant Interaction Task (UMIIT) to measure attributions to unknown individuals.
- Comparison of UMIIT performance with established mind-mindedness measures in adults, including descriptions of close others and maternal attunement to infant states.
Main Results:
- Adult mind-mindedness in close relationships did not predict performance on the UMIIT.
- Findings suggest that the tendency to mentalize is context-dependent and does not broadly generalize to unfamiliar individuals.
Conclusions:
- Mind-mindedness appears to be a relational construct, specific to familiar social partners.
- Future research should explore the boundaries and contextual specificity of mentalizing abilities.
Keywords:
Mentalidad conscienteMentalisierungMind-MindednessMutter-Kind-Interaktionesprit-qualité mentaleinteracción madre-infanteinteraction mère-nourrissonmentalisationmentalisingmentalizaciónmind-mindednessparent-infant interactionالتصور العقلي، التمثيل الذهني، التفاعل بين الأم والرضيعマインド-マインディッドネスメンタライジング心智心智化母婴互动母子相互作用More Related Videos
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