Perspective Mistaking: Accurately Understanding the Mind of Another Requires Getting Perspective, Not Taking Perspective
Eyal, Steffel & Epley (2018) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(4)
We use this paper in 3 places in the academy · 2 stated limits
What the study found
In 25 experiments, people who were told to imagine another person's point of view did not become more accurate about that person. Sometimes they became less accurate and more confident. What worked was asking the person.
Checking your understanding out loud is a form of asking. Asking made people more accurate, and imagining the other person's view did not.
In twenty-five experiments, actively imagining another person's point of view did not make people more accurate about what that person was thinking. Asking them did.
What the study cannot prove
These were twenty-five experiments on how accurately people judge another person's thoughts and feelings. They show that imagining the other person's view does not make you more accurate, and that asking them does.
Limits we note on the exercises
This corrects Carnegie. Imagining their view is the part that fails. Asking is the part that works.
That is why the exercise ends with saying it to them, and not with deciding it for them.
Where we use it
We use this paper in 3 places in the academy. If the paper turned out to be wrong, we would have to change everything in this list. Some of the exercise instructions below are part of Gold. You can read every finding for free.
Other papers used in the same places
These papers are used in the same topics and videos as this one. That does not mean the papers agree with each other. It only means that the same exercises use both.
(Mis)Understanding Our Influence Over Others: A Review of the Underestimated-Compliance Effect
Bohns (2016)A Cognitive Model of Social Phobia
Clark & Wells (1995)Daily Marital Interactions and Positive Affect During Marital Conflict Among Newlywed Couples
Driver & Gottman (2004)Duration Neglect in Retrospective Evaluations of Affective Episodes; When More Pain Is Preferred to Less
Fredrickson & Kahneman (1993); Kahneman, Fredrickson, Schreiber & Redelmeier (1993)Post-Event Processing in Social Anxiety
Rachman, Grüter-Andrew & Shafran (2000)Disclosing Information About the Self Is Intrinsically Rewarding
Tamir & Mitchell (2012)Research
A real study. We tell you what it found, how many people were in it, and what it can't prove.
You are free to read, link to and quote this page. If we claim more than this paper shows, please tell us at contact@suaviq.com. We read every correction, and corrections help us more than any other email.