Theory of Mind: A Superpower for PR Professionals

Theory of Mind is a super­power in pub­lic relations.

The abil­ity to com­pre­hend the thoughts and emo­tions of oth­ers holds trans­form­at­ive poten­tial in the realm of com­mu­nic­a­tion. By grasp­ing the intric­a­cies of people’s inner worlds, one can revo­lu­tion­ize their approach to inter­per­son­al interactions. 

Delving deep­er into the Theory of Mind is vital in this journey. 

Enhancing your aware­ness of this concept can sig­ni­fic­antly increase your com­mu­nic­a­tion skills.

Here we go:

A Brief History of Theory of Mind

The concept of the Theory of Mind was first intro­duced in the 1970s by devel­op­ment­al psy­cho­lo­gists who were study­ing the way chil­dren under­stand oth­ers’ beliefs, inten­tions, and emotions. 

Through vari­ous exper­i­ments, research­ers have dis­covered that chil­dren begin to under­stand that people have dif­fer­ent thoughts and feel­ings based on their unique per­spect­ives and exper­i­ences around age four. ¹Theory of mind. (2023, April 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind

As the study of the Theory of Mind evolved, research­ers found that it plays a cru­cial role in social cog­ni­tion and inter­per­son­al rela­tion­ships. It enables us to pre­dict and inter­pret oth­ers’ actions, empath­ise, and com­mu­nic­ate effectively. 

Today, the Theory of Mind is con­sidered an essen­tial aspect of human inter­ac­tion, which can bene­fit PR pro­fes­sion­als in numer­ous ways.

Identifying Theory of Mind in PR and Communications

“In psy­cho­logy, the­ory of mind refers to the capa­city to under­stand oth­er people by ascrib­ing men­tal states to them (that is, sur­mising what is hap­pen­ing in their mind). This includes the know­ledge that oth­ers’ men­tal states may be dif­fer­ent from one’s own states and include beliefs, desires, inten­tions, emo­tions, and thoughts.”
Source: Wikipedia

PR pro­fes­sion­als and com­mu­nic­at­ors with a strong Theory of Mind can bet­ter under­stand their audi­ence, cre­ate more com­pel­ling mes­sages, and build last­ing relationships. 

Here are sev­en real-life situ­ations where the Theory of Mind can make a difference:

Enhancing Your Theory of Mind Awareness

To improve your Theory of Mind as a PR pro­fes­sion­al, con­sider these three mindsets:

Literature Suggestions

Apperly, I. A. (2011). Mindreaders: The cog­nit­ive basis of “Theory of Mind”. Psychology Press.

Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the aut­ist­ic child have a “the­ory of mind”? Cognition, 21(1), 37 – 46.

Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chim­pan­zee have a the­ory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(4), 515 – 526.

PR Resource: Perception Management

Walter Lippmann: Public Opinion and Perception Management

No one is basing their atti­tudes and beha­viours on real­ity; we’re basing them on our per­cep­tions of real­ity.

Walter Lippmann (1889 – 1974) pro­posed that our per­cep­tions of real­ity dif­fer from the actu­al real­ity. The real­ity is too vast and too com­plex for any­one to pro­cess. ²Lippmann, Walter. 1960. Public Opinion (1922). New York: Macmillan.

• One who effect­ively man­ages the per­cep­tions of pub­lics acts as a mor­al legis­lat­or, cap­able of shap­ing atti­tudes and beha­viours accord­ing to the cat­egor­ic­al imperative.

The research on per­cep­tion man­age­ment is focused on how organ­isa­tions can cre­ate a desired repu­ta­tion:

“The OPM [Organizational Perception Management] field focuses on the range of activ­it­ies that help organ­isa­tions estab­lish and/or main­tain a desired repu­ta­tion (Staw et al., 1983). More spe­cific­ally, OPM research has primar­ily focused on two inter­re­lated factors: (1) the tim­ing and goals of per­cep­tion man­age­ment activ­it­ies and (2) spe­cif­ic per­cep­tion man­age­ment tac­tics (Elsbach, 2006).”
Source: Hargis, M. & Watt, John ³Hargis, M. & Watt, John. (2010). Organizational per­cep­tion man­age­ment: A frame­work to over­come crisis events. Organization Development Journal. 28. 73 – 87.

Today, our per­cep­tions are heav­ily influ­enced by news media and influ­en­cers, algorithms, and social graphs. Therefore, per­cep­tion man­age­ment is more crit­ic­al than ever before.

“We are all cap­tives of the pic­ture in our head — our belief that the world we have exper­i­enced is the world that really exists.”
— Walter Lippmann

Learn more: Walter Lippmann: Public Opinion and Perception Management

💡 Subscribe and get a free ebook on how to get bet­ter PR ideas!