Conference Agenda

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states such as desires, intentions, and perspectives, to other people. It may be the case that one’s ToM facilitates the self in organizing itself as a dynamic, dialogical multiplicity of interacting positions. However, existing ToM measures are largely based on a priori notions of what researchers conceive as ToM – which may leave out aspects of ToM, potentially biasing investigations of this relationship. Therefore, we set out to investigate ToM in what we hope is a more ecologically valid method, using open-ended reports in order to conceive a new ToM measure that can advance understanding of relationships between ToM and the Dialogical Self. After analyzing open-ended reports (N = 1969 instances) for ground-up theme emergence, and developing as well as collecting data on 83 representative questionnaire items, we ran preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis (N = 566 MRU student participants) on the items to see if factors would be extracted. The EFA extracted fairly strong factors in line with the typically reported ToM constructs of Goals and Desires, Intentions, and Empathy, as well as Perspective Taking. The EFA also extracted a fairly strong ToM factor not common to the literature, representing a construct we termed About Me. Further, the EFA revealed potential factors around the uncommonly reported constructs of Mental Time Travel, Inner Experiences, Appearances, and Context. Finally, weaker extracted factors involved Social Comparison, as well as Behaviour, and Attributes. As this is only a preliminary analysis, next steps include more EFA models and Confirmatory Factor Analysis to gain more clarity on what is presented here. Although preliminary, this study has implications for advancing Dialogical Self theory, even if in a modest capacity.