Theory of mind is the tendency or ability to interpret others by labelling mental states onto them. These states include our own biases, beliefs, intentions, thoughts, emotions, desires and opinions. The theory of mind, as the name suggests, includes ‘theories’ that we form for other people’s thoughts and feelings and how they come to exist.
“Am I capable of doing this?”
We question ourselves about our abilities on numerous occasions; Be it in terms of our skills, character, personalities etc. and how do we try to find answers to these questions? The only yardstick by which we measure ourselves is through others.
Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, who contributed to the study of development, by giving us the stages of psychosocial development. He believed that an individual’s personality develops through 8 stages, from infancy to adulthood.