Frequently Asked Questions
Who first mentioned the concept of role-taking? Role-taking dates back to George Herbert Mead, whose 1934 book Mind, Self, and Society underpins much of the work in contemporary social psychology. Fun fact: Mead was an intense perfectionist and slow to publish his own work. Mind, Self, and Society is a compilation of Mead’s lecture notes published posthumously by his students.
What makes role-taking different from empathy? “Empathy” is part of role-taking, as is “perspective taking.” What distinguishes role-taking is its structural character. Rather than approaching each individual and each situation as unique, people rely on their understanding of interrelated role-positions and shared situational meanings. Role-taking thus situates individuals within social structures, encompassing individual level processes of empathy (feeling with the other) and perspective taking (thinking with the other).
Why is role-taking important? Role-taking is how we relate to one another. If people only understood the world from their own perspectives and were unaffected by others’ experiences, social relationships would break down, cooperation would be impossible, and society would cease to function. In contrast, when people engage in role-taking (and related processes), it can reduce stereotypes, increase social cohesion, and promote helping behavior and cooperation (see Davis and Love 2017 for our review. We also like Zaki 2019).
Does everyone have the ability to role-take? Although more research is needed into neurodiversity, social psychologists believe that most adults have the ability to role-take. However, people vary in their propensity to do so. Role-taking requires social and emotional energy. This is likely why people with higher status role-take less actively than people with lower status. By default, people with lower status have to pay attention to the thoughts, feelings, needs, and behaviors of those with more resources. People with higher status can exert less social and emotional effort. Research also shows that people are more accurate at role-taking with others who are similar to themselves and less accurate when role-taking with dissimilar others (Davis and Love 2017, Hall, et al. 2016, and Zaki 2019).
How can you improve role-taking? We are in the early stages of developing role-taking interventions, but the main finding so far is that role-taking equalizes when people with low status are empowered within the social structure (see link above about status and role-taking). This means there is value in creating social situations in which hierarchies are less stark and in fostering leadership among underrepresented groups.
How can you measure role-taking? This is an ongoing puzzle for us. So far, we have two main measures. The Roommate Arbitration Task (RAT) is based on behavioral prediction in which pairs of participants are asked to offer advice to a set of dueling roommates and then predict each other’s responses. We have also adapted a Standard Stimulus measure in which individuals respond to social and emotional cues of pre-recorded narrators telling emotionally charged stories. We are prototyping additional measures that capture broader outcomes in cognitive and emotional activation. Instrument construction is always a work in progress. Stay tuned and please share your ideas!