24  Mentalizing

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Cluster: Cognitive Biases

24.1 Measure

The Mentalizing measure used was the EQ-Short (Wakabayashi et al., 2006), which is an abbreviated version of the original Empathy Quotient measure (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004).

Modifications

In contrast with other agreement based measures we used, the selected mentalizing measure used a unique scoring system, and as such was not altered to be consistent with our other Likert measures.

The wording of the question was altered to reflect the manner of administration (“select” your answer instead of the original “circle”)

24.2 Implementation

Question wording

Participants read the following text:

Please read each of the following statements carefully and rate how strongly you agree or disagree. There are no right or wrong answers and your responses remain anonymous.

Items

Qlabel	question
mnt_01	I can easily tell if someone else wants to enter a conversation.
mnt_02	I really enjoy caring for other people
mnt_03	I find it hard to know what to do in a social situation
mnt_04	I often find it difficult to judge if something is rude or polite
mnt_05	In a conversation, I tend to focus on my own thoughts rather than on what my listener might be thinking
mnt_06	I can pick up quickly if someone says one thing but means another.
mnt_07	It is hard for me to see why some things upset people so much
mnt_08	I find it easy to put myself in somebody else’s shoes
mnt_09	I am good at predicting how someone will feel.
mnt_10	I am quick to spot when someone in a group is feeling awkward or uncomfortable
mnt_11	I can’t always see why someone should have felt offended by a remark
mnt_12	I don’t tend to find social situations confusing.
mnt_13	Other people tell me I am good at understanding how they are feeling and what they are thinking
mnt_14	I can easily tell if someone else is interested or bored with what I am saying
mnt_15	Friends usually talk to me about their problems as they say that I am very understanding.
mnt_16	I can sense if I am intruding, even if the other person doesn’t tell me
mnt_17	Other people often say that I am insensitive, though I don’t always see why
mnt_18	I can tune into how someone else feels rapidly and intuitively.
mnt_19	I can easily work out what another person might want to talk about
mnt_20	I can tell if someone is masking their true emotion
mnt_21	I am good at predicting what someone will do
mnt_22	I tend to get emotionally involved with a friend’s problems

Coding

The mentalizing measure follows a bespoke 4 point agreement scale and uses a the following coding scheme:

definitely disagree	slightly disagree	slightly agree	definitely agree
0	0	1	2

Items 03, 04, 05, 07, 11, and 17 are reverse coded.

Scoring

The following variables are derived from this measure:

Variable Name	Variable Label	Description	Variable Type	Source (Section)	Definition
Mentalizing	mentalizing	Mentalizing score	numeric	Mentalizing	mean mnt_01: mnt_22

Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The Empathy Quotient: An Investigation of Adults with Asperger Syndrome or High Functioning Autism, and Normal Sex Differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JADD.0000022607.19833.00

Wakabayashi, A., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Goldenfeld, N., Delaney, J., Fine, D., … Weil, L. (2006). Development of short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short) and the Systemizing Quotient (SQ-Short). Personality and Individual Differences, 41(5), 929–940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.03.017