The Cultural Evolution of Mentalising

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Thinking about mental states, such as beliefs, desires and intentions, is a universally important human ability known as mentalising. This project aims to use new cross-cultural databases and computational comparative methods to study five ways that mentalising practices vary across world cultures. The findings of this research have the potential to provide the first systematic overview of how mentalising practices vary globally as well as reveal the historical and social processes that shape the diverse ways that people think about the mind. Benefits of this knowledge include a more culturally sound basis for future developments in community-focused professions such as education, community development and counselling.