Women Can Guess Other People’s Thoughts Better Than Men: Study

A new study has now found that on average, females are better than males at guessing other people's thoughts.

The concept of consciously putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes is known as “theory of mind". In the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test, which measures “theory of mind”, females, on average scored higher than males across all ages and most countries, the study found.

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In social interaction, people often put themselves in the shoes of others in order to imagine the person's thoughts and feelings. A new study has now found that on average, females are better than males at this exercise. The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The concept of consciously putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes is known as “theory of mind”, also known as “cognitive empathy”. In the large new study, over 3 lakh people in 57 countries participated in the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test, which measures “theory of mind”. On average, females scored higher than males across all ages and most countries.

The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test, also known as the Eyes Test, is widely used for studying the theory of mind. Participants are asked to look at a person’s eye region in a photo and then choose which word best describes what the person is thinking or feeling.

The test was first developed by a Cambridge University scientist in 1997 and then revised in 2001. It is listed as one of two recommended tests for measuring individual differences in ‘Understanding Mental States’ by the National Institute of Mental Health in the US, according to a press release from Cambridge University.

Since it has been a well-established test for decades, many studies have already found that females on average score higher than males. The sample size in most of these studies was, however, small, so that not much diversity could be covered in terms of geography, culture, age etc, said the press release, which described the latest study as the largest of its kind.

The study involved researchers from Cambridge University as well as collaborators in other institutions. It merged large samples from different online platforms to analyse data from over 3 lakh participants aged between 16 and 70.

In 36 of the 57 countries, females scored significantly higher than men in the Eyes Test. In the remaining 21 countries, females scored similar to males, the analysis found. In no country did males on average score significantly higher than females.

 “Our results provide some of the first evidence that the well-known phenomenon – that females are on average more empathic than males – is present in a wide range of countries across the globe. It’s only by using very large data sets that we can say this with confidence,” the release quoted lead scientist Dr David M Greenberg as saying.