The Effects of Adult Aging and Culture on Theory of Mind

Social status and health: A comparison of British civil servants in Whitehall-II with European- and African-Americans in CARDIA

Min Hooi Yong, Louisa Lawrie, Alexandre Schaefer and Louise H Phillips

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2022, vol. 77, issue 2, 332-340

Abstract: ObjectivesOlder adults tend to have poorer Theory of Mind (ToM) than their younger counterparts, and this has been shown in both Western and Asian cultures. We examined the role of working memory (WM) in age differences in ToM, and whether this was moderated by education and culture (the United Kingdom vs. Malaysia).MethodsWe used 2 ToM tests with differing demands on updating multiple mental states (false belief) and applying social rules to mental state processing (faux pas). We also looked at the role of education, socioeconomic status, and WM. A total of 298 participants from the United Kingdom and Malaysia completed faux pas, false belief, and WM tasks.ResultsAge effects on some aspects of ToM were greater in the Malaysian compared to the UK sample. Malaysian older adults were poorer at faux pas detection, aspects of false belief, and WM compared to young adults. In subsequent moderated mediation analyses, we found that, specifically in the Malaysian sample, the mediating effects of WM on the age and ToM relationship occurred at the lowest levels of education.DiscussionThis pattern of results may reflect changes in the familiarity and cognitive load of explicit mental state attribution, along with cultural differences in the pace and nature of cognitive aging. Cultural differences in education and WM should be considered when researching age differences in ToM.

Keywords: Culture; Executive function; Theory of Mind; Working memory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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