Gender Differences in Theory of Mind and Its Impact on Social Skills

Background:  Boys are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at a rate of approximately five times more than girls. Further, when diagnosis is sought for girls (who are not intellectually disabled), it is more likely that they will reach criteria for the less severe Pervasive Developmental Disorder (Not Otherwise Specified). Although it is accepted that genetic vulnerability can account, in part, for these sex differences, discrepancies may also emerge due to environmental protective factors that may contribute to the development of the disorder and possibly its ontogeny. 

Objectives:  For this project we specifically examined gender differences in theory of mind ability. It is argued here that the development of theory of mind in girls is typically more advanced and may play a protective role in the impact autism may have on the development of social skills. The use of a five-step model in theory of mind development (Wellman & Liu, 2004) allowed us to specifically examine whether gender differences were present overall or only present for specific theory of mind abilities, that are said to develop across early childhood. It is predicted here that girls are likely superior on specific theory of mind skills, and that these specific abilities will show greater association to social abilities. Gender differences in executive function ability were also examined, as it is thought to be a prerequisite of theory of mind development.

Methods:  N=68 typically-developing children (n= 41 boys, n=27 girls) were recruited from childcare centres. These children ranged in age from 24 months to 61 months (M=44.81, sd=10.82). Typically developing children were targeted as we were assessing factors that may protect children from reaching the criteria for an autism diagnosis. Five theory of mind abilities were assessed based on the five-step tasks proposed by Peterson, Wellman and Liu (2005). Five executive function tasks were implemented from a range of sources. Social measures were taken from peer-play observations, parent-ratings, and teacher-ratings.

Results:  Gender was not a unique predictor of variance on any executive function task. Gender was, however, a unique predictor of variance on the Knowledge Access theory of mind task, favouring females. This task (the third proposed step in theory of mind development) was found to be associated with higher pro-social behaviour and lower rates of aggression during play. Observations and teacher-report of game preference also suggest that girls have more opportunity to practice theory of mind skills through their more frequent use of verbal pretend role-plays as a game preference.

Conclusions:  While there were no gender differences on the majority of the executive function and theory of mind tasks, the Knowledge Access theory of mind task did produce a gender difference favouring females. Moreover, analysis of each theory of mind task showed that it was only this third task, which was associated with better social ability. Due to this association between Knowledge Access and better social abilities, this aspect of theory of mind may indeed be acting as a protective factor against the severity with which autism may develop.