Relationship between Social Cognition and Temperament in Preschool-aged Children

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between temperament and social cognition, including theory of mind and emotion understanding, in 34 preschool-aged children (aged 3–4 years). Theory of mind was measured with a belief–desire reasoning assessment, and emotion understanding was measured with an affective perspective-taking task. Child temperament was provided by online parent report. Consistent with previous research, theory of mind correlated with shy and socially observant temperament. In contrast, emotion understanding was associated with attention focusing and low intensity pleasure (enjoyment of low arousal activities). Both theory of mind and emotion understanding were positively related to inhibitory control and negatively related to activity level. In sum, theory of mind and emotion understanding, while both associated with executive functioning, correlate with distinct social preference temperament dimensions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.