The Relationships between Perspective Taking, Bilingualism, and Gender

• Published in: ʻIlm-i zabān (Online) Vol. 6; no. 10; pp. 357 - 382
• Main Authors: Mozhgan Rashtchi, Samaneh Tarighat, Roya Khoii
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Persian
• Published: Allameh Tabataba'i University Press 01.12.2019
• Subjects: bilingual advantage; bilingualism; cognitive advantages; gender differences; perspective taking
• ISSN: 2423-7728; 2538-2551
• DOI: 10.22054/ls.2019.41687.1219

The aim of the present study was two-fold. First, it intended to investigate the relationship between perspective taking and bilingualism; second, it studied gender differences in perspective taking. To do so, a total of 100 balanced bilinguals and their 100 matching monolinguals (based on age, gender, and socioeconomic status) were selected. The participants completed a self-assessment sheet which could help the researchers to label them as bilinguals or monolinguals. A Persian translation of the Perspective Taking section of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index by Davis (1983) was administered. The questionnaire consisted of Likert-type questions which had positive and negative scores. Two independent-samples t-tests were run to compare the perspective taking of monolinguals to that of the bilinguals and to examine whether there is a difference between the female and male participants’ perspective taking. The results of the first t-test indicated that the bilinguals had higher perspective taking than the monolinguals. Furthermore, the second t-test showed that the female participants outperformed the male participants in perspective taking.