Development and types. Perspective-taking develops in early childhood as part of theory of mind, with gains observed in tasks that require attributing beliefs or intentions to others. Researchers distinguish cognitive perspective-taking (adopting another’s beliefs or knowledge) from affective perspective-taking (inferring or resonating with another’s emotions). Both forms can operate alongside perceptual perspective-taking, such as judging what another person can see. Across adolescence and adulthood, perspective-taking tends to improve with language, executive function, and social experience, though developmental trajectories can vary and may differ in neurodivergent populations.
Measurement and methods. Common approaches include false-belief and appearance-reality tasks to assess cognitive understanding of others’ mental states, as well as visual perspective-taking tasks that require judging a scene from another person’s vantage point. Self-report scales, such as the perspective-taking subscale of broader empathy measures, capture trait tendencies. In research, tasks are used to explore how perspective-taking relates to cooperation, conflict resolution, and prejudice reduction.
Influences and implications. Performance is influenced by developmental stage, cognitive resources, and cultural context. Viewing perspective-taking as a skill can inform education, intercultural communication, and clinical practice, where fostering it may support prosocial behavior and reduce bias. However, perspective-taking does not always lead to positive outcomes; misattributions or over-attribution of others’ mental states can occur, and there is ongoing debate about its limits and ecological validity.