The relationship between theory of mind and social skills mediated by empathy and emotion regulation in primary school children

Subject Areas : روان‌شناسی تحولی

Mina Sangnour pour ¹ , Zeynab Khanjani ² , Touraj Hashemi Nosrat Abad ³

1 - Psychology department- The faculty of education and psychology - The university of Tabriz - Tabriz - Iran
2 - Department of psychology - The faculty of education and psychology - The university of Tabriz - Tabriz - Iran
3 - Department of psychology - The faculty of education and psychology - The university of Tabriz -Tabriz - Iran

Received: 2023-06-08 Accepted : 2023-11-26

Keywords: Emotion regulation, Empathy, Social skills, Theory of mind,

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between theory of mind and social skills mediated by empathy and emotion regulation in primary school children. This study method was conducted with a correlational method. The population of this study was girls in the sixth grade of primary school in Tabriz in 2022. 375 students selected using random multistage cluster method and completed Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (1983), Steerneman’s Theory of Mind Test (1994), Overgaauw and Rieffe’s Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (2017) and Shield and Cicchetti’s emotion regulation questionnaire (1997). Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between theory of mind and social skills. There was a positive relationship between theory of mind and empathy and emotion regulation as well as between empathy and emotion regulation with social skills. Empathy and emotion regulation could significantly mediate the relationship between theory of mind and social skills. Hence, the research indicates that social skills can be improved by improving the level of theory of mind and simultaneously improving empathy and emotion regulation.