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The Effect of Social Presence on Mentalizing Behavior
Author(s) -
Morgan Emma J.,
Carroll Daniel J.,
Chow Constance K. C.,
Freeth Megan
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.498
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1551-6709
pISSN - 0364-0213
DOI - 10.1111/cogs.13126
Subject(s) - mentalization , psychology , theory of mind , task (project management) , social cognition , cognition , cognitive psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , neuroscience , management , economics
Our behavior is frequently influenced by those around us. However, the majority of social cognition research is conducted using socially isolated paradigms, without the presence of real people (i.e., without a “social presence”). The current study aimed to test the influence of social presence upon a measure of mentalizing behavior in adults. Study 1 used a first‐order theory of mind task; and study 2 used a second‐order theory of mind task. Both studies included two conditions: live , where the task protagonists were physically present acting out the task, or recorded , where the same task protagonists demonstrated the task in a video recording. In both experiments, participants were affected by the social presence and demonstrated significantly different patterns of behavior in response to the presence of real people. This study, therefore, highlights the critical importance of understanding the effect of a social presence in mentalizing research, and suggests that the inclusion of a social presence needs to be given strong consideration across social cognition paradigms.