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Poster #224 - Is theory of mind an explanatory mechanism for the relation between gender and social competence?
Thu, March 21, 12:30 to 1:45pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall BIntegrative Statement
Theory of mind (ToM) has been implicated as a prime source of individual differences in social skills and behavior problems during the preschool and early school years (Watson, Nixon, Wilson, & Capage, 1999). During this period, there are also consistent gender differences in social competence ratings, with boys displaying lower social skills and higher behavior problems (e.g., aggression) than girls (Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Knafo-Noam, 2015). Although findings are mixed, research also suggests that boys may also evidence lower theory of mind skills than girls during the preschool period (Walker, 2005). Thus, the objective of this study was to examine whether ToM acts as an explanatory mechanism of the relation between gender and social competence.
Participants included 73 4-year-olds (28 females; Mage = 4.07; SD = .18) and 60 5-year-olds (30 females; Mage = 5.35; SD = .16). Parents completed the Children’s Social Understanding Scale (CSUS; Tahiroglu et al., 2014) as a measure of theory of mind understanding, with higher scores indicating greater competence. The Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS; Gresham & Elliott, 2008) preschool-level rating form was administered to assess global social skills. The SSIS is comprised of both social (e.g., Cooperation) and problem behaviour (e.g., Externalizing) subscales with higher scores indicating more frequent behavior.
Results are displayed in Figure 1. A regression analyses was conducted without theory of mind to estimate the direct effect of gender on social skills (path c1 in Figure 1) and externalizing problems (path c2 in Figure 1) after controlling for covariates. Gender was negatively related to social skills, β = -.15, p = .04, and positively related to externalizing problems, β = .21, p = .002. Unstandardized path estimates revealed that boys scored on average 4.18 points lower than girls on the assessment of social skills and 1.76 points higher on reports of externalizing symptoms. Next, a path analysis model was conducted in which gender predicted theory of mind (a path), and theory of mind was specified as a predictor of both social skills (b1 path) and externalizing symptoms (b2 path). Gender significantly predicted theory of mind, with boys showing lower theory of mind skills, β = -.18, p = .006. Theory of mind, in turn, predicted better social skills, β = .53, p < .001, and lower externalizing problems, β = -.18, p = .01. Moreover, after the inclusion of theory of mind, the direct effect between gender and social skills (c’1 path) dropped by 67%, from β = -.15 to -.05, and was no longer significant, p = .45. However, the direct effect between gender and externalizing problems (c’2 path) remained significant, p = .01, and only dropped by 14%, from β = .21 to .18.
Overall, these findings suggest that theory of mind development may underlie the relation between gender and social skills but does not appear to explain the link the between gender and externalizing behaviors.