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. 2023 Jan 24;8(1):5.
doi: 10.1186/s41235-023-00461-6.

The influence of in-groups and out-groups on the theory-of-mind processing: evidence from different ethnic college students

Tingyu Zhu  1 , Lijin Zhang  2   3   4 , Ping Wang  5 , Meiqiu Xiang  1 , Xiujuan Wu  1
Affiliations

The influence of in-groups and out-groups on the theory-of-mind processing: evidence from different ethnic college students

Tingyu Zhu et al. Cogn Res Princ Implic. .

Erratum in

Abstract

According to previous studies of theory of mind (ToM), social environment and cultural background affect individuals' cognitive ability to understand other people's minds. There are cross-group differences in ToM. The present study aimed to examine whether social environment and culture affect the ToM in Uygur and Han groups and whether the individual's cognitive ToM and affective ToM show in-group advantages. Han and Uygur college students were recruited as participants. The "self/other differentiation task" was used to measure cognitive ToM (Study 1), and the "Yoni task" was used to measure both cognitive and affective ToM (Study 2). We found that Han participants processed the cognitive and affective states of others faster and more accurately than Uygur ones. Uygur and Han participants processed in-group members' cognitive and affective states faster and more accurately. Furthermore, Uygur participants were more accurate in the cognitive ToM processing of in-group members, while Han participants were faster in the affective ToM processing of in-group members. The findings indicated that ethnic culture and group identify might influence ToM processing. Strengthening exchanges between ethnic groups may enable individuals to better process out-group members' psychological states.

Keywords: Cross-cultural research; Ethnicity; In-group; Out-group; Theory of mind.

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Conflict of interest statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of single trial under unexpected conditions of Self/Other Differentiation Task. Note. Dilemma stage (self, others: Uygur, Han), contents revelation stage (expected, unexpected), probe stage (self, others: Uygur, Han). In our experiment, English in the original task was translated into Chinese, the followings were the same. For the convenience of reading, we have dotted the correct answers
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Average reaction time and the error rate of Uygur and Han Ethnicity under different task conditions in self/other differentiation task
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Flowchart of a single trial of Yoni task. Note. For the convenience of reading, we have dotted the correct answers
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Trials and examples of different task conditions in the Yoni task. Note. Only an example of the exercise task is shown in the figure, in the formal experiment, the face pictures of cartoon characters were replaced with Uygur and Han face pictures of the same gender as the subjects. For the convenience of reading, we have dotted the correct answers
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Average reaction time and the error rate of Uygur and Han Ethnicity under different conditions in Yoni task
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