Social competence with peers and theory of mind among Chinese preschool children

The current study investigated the link between social competence with peers (SCWP) and theory of mind (ToM) skills among Chinese preschool children. Using a sample of 363 Chinese children aged 3–5 (Mage = 4.54 years, SD = 0.84, 183 boys), this cross‐sectional study demonstrates that children's...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infant and child development 2023-11, Vol.32 (6), p.n/a
Main Authors: Hou, Xiao‐Hui, Liu, Yao, Qin, Xia‐Xia, Wang, Ling‐Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
China
False belief
Family size
Peers
Preschool children
preschooler
social competence with peers
Social skills
Teachers
Theory of mind
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Summary:The current study investigated the link between social competence with peers (SCWP) and theory of mind (ToM) skills among Chinese preschool children. Using a sample of 363 Chinese children aged 3–5 (Mage = 4.54 years, SD = 0.84, 183 boys), this cross‐sectional study demonstrates that children's SCWP, as reported by teachers, was significantly related to their ToM. Notably, this link was found to be significant even after controlling for children's age, sex, sibling presence or absence, parental education level, family possessions, family size and language skills. The current research provides empirical evidence for the association between SCWP and social understanding. Furthermore, beyond links with scores on the false‐belief tests used in most past studies, the current result showed a clear independent link between teachers' ratings of social competence and the total score on a reliable developmentally sequenced ToM scale.
ISSN:1522-7227
1522-7219
DOI:10.1002/icd.2463