Bögemann, Nele J;
Harris, Lasana T;
Nestler, Steffen;
(2025)
A question of perspective: Target- vs. perceiver-specific dimensions of mind perception.
Cognition
, 265
, Article 106231. 10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106231.
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Abstract
Mind perception - the inference of mind in others - is foundational for social cognition and interaction, but previous research on its underlying dimensions has so far only produced mixed findings. In a prominent study, H.M. Gray et al. (2007) identified two dimensions of mind perception - Agency and Experience -, while more recent work instead suggests three dimensions similar to Body, Heart, and Mind (Malle, 2019; Weisman et al., 2017). Here, we provide a comprehensive account that can accommodate both dimensional structures by distinguishing target- from perceiver-specific dimensions of mind perception. These dimensions explain target- and perceiver-specific differences in mind perception that were differentially focused on by previous studies ascribing to the competing dimensional structures. To test our account empirically and compare target- vs. perceiver-specific dimensions, we gathered online survey data from two samples (N = 157, and N = 150). In both samples, exploratory factor analyses yielded two target-specific dimensions in line with Agency-Experience, and three perceiver-specific dimensions in line with Body-Heart-Mind, thereby validating our explanatory account. Further analyses showed that perceiver-specific dimensions are meaningfully associated with perceivers' demographics, personality, and spiritual belief; and that they depend on target context. Together, our results resolve inconsistencies in mind perception research and work toward a novel unifying mind perception framework.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A question of perspective: Target- vs. perceiver-specific dimensions of mind perception |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106231 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106231 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Concept of mind, Latent structures, Mind perception, Social cognition, Social judgment decomposition |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Experimental Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212434 |
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