Tag: perspective-taking

Teaching perspective-taking (Perspective-taking, part 3)

Posted on by kathiemm

[Editor’s note: Today’s post is the third in a series by Dr. Sherri Nevada McCarthy on the topic of perspective-taking].

Children sitting on floor at story time
Photo by Dave Parker; licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. From Wikimedia Commons

Many conflict resolution programs used in schools are built around enhancing children’s ability for perspective-taking. Harvard Graduate School of Education Assistant Professor Hunter Gehlbach notes that perspective taking plays an important role in classroom experiences. Teachers are encouraged to provide activities to help students develop these skills.

Gelbach suggests asking open-ended questions and presenting multiple viewpoints in class. Ask students for multiple right answers. Help them to develop a disposition that says, “Okay, I know what my point of view is, but is this how other people are thinking?”

“I don’t think social perspective taking is something which is currently rewarded in schools,” reflects Gehlbach. “It’s not punished, but it is kind of ignored.”

Social perspective taking depends on the context in which someone is trying to take another person’s perspective. According to Gehlbach, very little is known about how perspective taking happens and how effective different strategies are. “One strategy that people often use,” he explains, “is to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. But this could be a really bad strategy. If I’m very different from you and I project my background and my personal history into your situation, there’s a pretty good chance I would think something different from you.”

Perhaps you can remember some of the ways that you learned perspective-taking–either inside a classroom or outside.  Please comment and share those experiences.

Sherri McCarthy, Professor of Psychology at Northern Arizona University-Yuma

Developing social perspective (Perspective-taking, part 2)

Posted on by kathiemm

[Editor’s note: Today’s post is the second in a series by Dr. Sherri Nevada McCarthy on the topic of perspective-taking, this time exploring its development in children and adolescents].

Children looking at each other
Illustration by Margo Bendery, staff illustrator for Engaging Peace

Perspective-taking is not the same thing as empathy. Knowing someone is sad, for example, and feeling sympathy and a desire to ease the pain is important in human relations, but not the same thing as understanding what sadness might feel like to that person, or why it exists.

Jean Piaget, a well-known developmental psychologist, considered perspective-taking an important component of cognitive development, and research seemed to show it generally did not emerge until at least the age of six.

Other research shows that, for some, it may never emerge. The ability to see things from another’s viewpoint may not just develop automatically with age. It is likely also tied into cultural, social and educational experiences.

According to Robert Selman, with experience and guidance, children generally move through five levels of perspective-taking following this pattern:

  • First, at Level 0, “undifferentiated perspective-taking” (ages 3-6), they do not recognize that others have feelings, ideas or views different from their own.
  • At Level 1, “social-informational perspective-taking” (ages 5-9), young children begin to realize that others might have different feelings or views than their own, but can’t consider what these might be, especially if those views or feelings are in opposition.
  • At Level 2, “self-reflective perspective-taking” (ages 7-12), children begin to be able to consider the opinions and feelings of someone else as well as their own.
  • Levels 3, “third-party perspective-taking” (ages 10-15) and 4, “societal perspective-taking” (ages 14-adult), which usually do not emerge until adolescence, allow increasing abilities to predict, understand and coordinate various perspectives.

As children mature, they take more information into account. They realize that different people can react differently to the same situation. They develop the ability to analyze the perspectives of several people involved in a situation from the viewpoint of an objective bystander, and they can even imagine how different cultural or social values would influence the perceptions of the bystander.

What have you noticed about how people do or do not see things from another’s point of view? And what difference does that make for issues of war and peace?

Sherri McCarthy, Professor of Psychology at Northern Arizona University-Yuma

Perspectives on peace (Perspective-taking, part 1)

Posted on by kathiemm

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison:  Today we welcome the first of several contributions by Sherri Nevada McCarthy, a member of the Engaging Peace board of directors. Dr. McCarthy is a professor of psychology at Northern Arizona University-Yuma, and has published widely in the area of international psychology. She is co-editor with me of two upcoming volumes to be published by Springer Publishing: International Handbook of Governmental Aggression and International Handbook of Peace.]

Drawing of two faces with dots overhead, suggesting they are thinking about each other

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, asserts that all of humanity is entitled to a social and international order in which all safely co-exist, free from torture, slavery, threat or discrimination.

Still, more than 60 years later, many on our planet live in fear of genocide, invasion and other threats. Discrimination persists. Despite good intentions, rights are sometimes taken away by the very people who claim to be upholding them.

Why is this, and what can each of us do to help prevent it?

Psychologists have identified several mechanisms that may help to shed some light on these questions. Albert Bandura’s mechanisms of moral disengagement, previously discussed on this blog, are one example. Another is the concept of “perspective-taking.”

Perspective-taking has been widely researched over the years by both developmental and social psychologists. Developmental psychologist Robert Selman identified stages of perspective-taking that develop as children mature, and many tests of children’s cognitive and social competence used today incorporate these stages. (In future posts, we will explore Selman’s work in more detail.)

Perspective-taking, or the ability to see things from another’s point of view, is essential for social competence. Without this ability, people would remain unable to relate to the needs, interests or rights of others. Reasoning would also be impaired—especially about ideas such as justice and fairness.

It is worth noting that knowledge of another’s perspective does not guarantee that we will ensure human rights. This knowledge could instead be used to manipulate or harm. Still, being able to discern and understand the points of view of others is an important skill in peaceful conflict resolution. Finding ways to make sure this ability develops, whether in the schools or through other means, is an important first step toward engaging peace.

Sherri Nevada McCarthy, Ph.D.