Perspective taking: motivation and impediment to shared reality

• Published in: Current opinion in psychology 2018-10, Vol.23, p.104-108
• Main Authors: Hodges, Sara D, Denning, Kathryn R, Lieber, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2352-250X; 2352-250X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.02.007

•Perspective taking acknowledges the presence of more than one perspective.•A need for shared reality may motivate perspective taking.•Perspective taking that highlights differences or threats may hinder shared reality. Taking another person's perspective requires acknowledging that there is another viewpoint, which can challenge the concept of shared reality. At the same time, taking someone else's perspective can also preserve shared reality, by helping to explain how aspects of the world may be perceived differently by two different individuals. Thus, establishing or maintaining shared reality may be a primary motivator for perspective taking in everyday life. However, depending on the content (e.g., self-perceptions, assumptions about other people, cherished beliefs) used in constructing another perspective and comparing it with one's own, perspective taking may in some cases instead highlight differences between how people view the world, thus hindering a sense of shared reality.