What is perspective-taking in simple terms?

Asking yourself, "If I were that person, what would I think and feel?"

Can perspective-taking alone tell you what someone is thinking?

Research suggests imagination barely improves accuracy; asking the person directly and listening is more accurate.

Perspective-Taking

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Perspective-taking is the cognitive process of viewing a situation from another person's standpoint and imagining their thoughts, feelings and motives. Mark Davis measured it as one dimension of empathy. Adam Galinsky, Gordon Moskowitz and others showed that taking the perspective of an outgroup member reduces stereotype expression and ingroup favoritism. Other research, however, shows that imagination alone rarely yields accurate knowledge of another person's mind.

Contents

1. Concept and measurement
2. Reducing stereotyping and prejudice
3. Limits and criticism
4. FAQ
5. References

Concept and measurement

Perspective-taking is the cognitive activity of asking how another person would think and feel. Davis (1983) measured it in the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as one of four empathy dimensions, alongside empathic concern, personal distress and fantasy, and showed that people high in perspective-taking are more flexible in interpersonal relations. Epley and colleagues (2004) showed that when people infer another's perspective they start from their own and adjust gradually, and that when time is short, adjustment is insufficient and egocentric judgments remain.

Reducing stereotyping and prejudice

Batson and colleagues (1997) showed that participants who imagined the feelings of a single person with AIDS or a homeless person while hearing that person's story developed more favorable attitudes toward the group as a whole. Galinsky and Moskowitz (2000) reported that when participants wrote about a day in the life of an elderly man while taking his perspective, stereotypic expression, stereotype accessibility and ingroup favoritism all declined. Vescio and colleagues (2003) explained the effect through increased empathy and a shift toward attributing the other's hardships to situations rather than dispositions. Todd and colleagues (2011) showed that perspective-taking also reduces automatic racial bias, such as on the Implicit Association Test.

Limits and criticism

Perspective-taking does not always produce good outcomes. Eyal, Steffel and Epley (2018) reported across 25 experiments that imagining another's position did not improve accuracy in judging that person's thoughts or feelings, whereas perspective getting, directly asking and listening, did. Other research shows that in competitive settings, taking an opponent's perspective can heighten expectations that the opponent will act selfishly. Perspective-taking is therefore regarded as a promising way to reduce the intergroup empathy gap, but more effective when combined with conversation and contact.

FAQ

What is perspective-taking in simple terms?: Asking yourself, "If I were that person, what would I think and feel?"
Can perspective-taking alone tell you what someone is thinking?: Research suggests imagination barely improves accuracy; asking the person directly and listening is more accurate.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113–126. The IRI, measuring perspective taking as an empathy facet.
Batson, C. D., Polycarpou, M. P., Harmon-Jones, E., Imhoff, H. J., Mitchener, E. C., Bednar, L. L., Klein, T. R., & Highberger, L. (1997). Empathy and attitudes: Can feeling for a member of a stigmatized group improve feelings toward the group? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(1), 105–118. Imagining one person's feelings improves group attitudes.
Galinsky, A. D., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2000). Perspective-taking: Decreasing stereotype expression, stereotype accessibility, and in-group favoritism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4), 708–724. The key study showing reduced stereotyping.
Vescio, T. K., Sechrist, G. B., & Paolucci, M. P. (2003). Perspective taking and prejudice reduction: The mediational role of empathy arousal and situational attributions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33(4), 455–472. Empathy and situational attributions as mediators.
Epley, N., Keysar, B., Van Boven, L., & Gilovich, T. (2004). Perspective taking as egocentric anchoring and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 327–339. Perspective taking as adjustment from one's own view.
Todd, A. R., Bodenhausen, G. V., Richeson, J. A., & Galinsky, A. D. (2011). Perspective taking combats automatic expressions of racial bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(6), 1027–1042. Reduces automatic racial bias.
Eyal, T., Steffel, M., & Epley, N. (2018). Perspective mistaking: Accurately understanding the mind of another requires getting perspective, not taking perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(4), 547–571. Shows limits for accuracy in reading others' minds.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

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Intergroup Empathy BiasWhat intergroup empathy bias is: feeling more empathy for ingroup than outgroup members' suffering, and sometimes pleasure at a rival group's misfortune. Covers neuroscience evidence, behavioral consequences and ways to reduce it.🧠 Psychology Contact HypothesisWhat the contact hypothesis is: under the right conditions, contact between groups reduces prejudice. Covers Allport's four conditions, Pettigrew and Tropp's meta-analysis, extended and imagined contact, field experiments such as Iraqi soccer, and negative contact.👥 Sociology DeprovincializationWhat deprovincialization is: realizing through outgroup contact that one's own group's norms and customs are not the only right way, and becoming less ingroup-centered. Covers its origin, evidence and significance.🧠 Psychology Intergroup Emotions TheoryWhat intergroup emotions theory is: when people see themselves as group members, they feel group-based emotions toward other groups that drive behavior. Covers origins, evidence, criteria for group-level emotion and applications.🧠 Psychology

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.