A Comparison of Theory of Mind and Empathy in Male and Female Students at University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in Tehran

Empathy and theory of mind, capacities that are essential for human communication, are abilities which highly correlated to each other. Several studies have shown that women outperform men regarding empathy. However, using theory of mind did not confirm these results. The aim of the present study was to compare theory of mind and empathy in male and female students at University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in Tehran.
The research was a descriptive-comparative study. One hundred undergraduate students, 50 males and 50 females (due to the population size by using the Cochran formula), from different rehabilitation majors took part in this study. They were selected by non-probability quota sampling. Davis empathy questionnaire and Baron Cohen Eyes Test were used for this evaluation.
The findings showed that women outperformed men significantly with regard to empathy test scores. However, there was not a statistically significant difference between men and women in theory of mind test scores.
One possible reason for different findings between two methods used in this study may be the self-report nature of sympathy questionnaire. Women are expected to be more empathic in society and this can affect their responses. Theory of mind test emphasizes on more complex mind states and examines empathy in an indirect way could be a more reliable test.