Political parties regularly claim to have their finger on the pulse and be able to read the public mood. Yet a new study challenges the idea that being political makes you good at understanding others: it shows
gender, not politics, is a far more important factor in determining people’s social skills.
Analysis of a sample of 4,000 people from across the UK, compiled by a team of psychologists at the
University of Bath, highlights that being female and educated are the biggest determinants of whether
you can understand or read others’ minds.
For their study the psychologists looked at qualities associated with understanding others such as
agreeableness, picking up on subtle clues and self-reflection. In psychology, this is known as ‘theory of
mind’: the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them.
The team stress these results represent averages, but they say their study is an important reminder about
the drivers of agreement and disagreement in public life. Their findings are published today (Wednesday
24 June) in the journal PLOS One.
Age was only associated with understanding others in later life: on average, older people had poorer
ability to understand other people.
Dr Punit Shah, Senior author, Associate Professor and leading expert on social cognitive processing in
Bath’s Department of Psychology explains: “In a world where it seems increasingly difficult to hold and
express different points of view, it is crucial that we understand the barriers to connecting with other
people.
“Political views are often thought of as such a barrier, but our research actually shows that a person’s
politics is not, in fact, linked to how well they understand others.
“Importantly, we didn’t just find an absence of evidence for a political link in the study. The analyses also
provided evidence of absence for this link. This is a socially important finding that might help to break
down some artificially constructed barriers between people and ultimately improve understanding
between different people in our society.”
Shah argues that the link between being educated and female and better understanding other
perspectives is also important. He adds: “Historically male perspectives have been prioritised in society.
We are of course seeing this narrative diminish over time, and research like ours adds extra evidence to
highlight the important role of education and being female for social understanding and cohesion in
society – far more so than politics.”
To conduct the research, the team asked members of the public to provide details about their socio-
demographic background, as well as to score their political beliefs (ranging from 1 = very liberal, to 7 =
very conservative). They also used a ‘mindreading test’ to ascertain how well participants understood
what other people are thinking.
This test – developed by the same team in 2021 – asks a series of simple statements, such as: ‘I can usually understand another person’s viewpoint, even if it differs from my own’; and ‘I find it easy to put myself in somebody else’s shoes.’
Lead researcher, Dr Rachel Clutterbuck, emphasised that these findings could improve our
understanding of social differences between people: “The reasons for why some people are better at
understanding others are not well understood, but this research provides a glimpse into some individual
differences, such as gender, which may help to explain these social differences.
“Our results are new because the study considered so many factors – like gender, education, age, and
politics – in tandem, rather than looking at them separately as often happens. When we do this, it is clear to see that gender is, by far, most strongly linked to how well others are understood. This finding
highlights the complexity of social life and reminds us to consider the various factors that may contribute
to understanding and getting on with someone.”