Social perspective-taking is the ability to understand how a situation appears to another person and how that person is reacting cognitively and emotionally.
The opposite of perspective-taking is egocentrism or being unaware that other perspectives exist and that one’s own view of the situation or issue is incomplete and limited.
Perspective-taking results in more information, both personal and impersonal, being disclosed (Johnson & Johnson, 1989); increases the capacity to phrase messages so that they
are easily understood by the other; increases accurate comprehension of the other’s messages; increases understanding and retention of the other’s information and reasoning;
facilitates the achievement of creative and high- quality problem solving; and promotes more positive perceptions of the interaction, the other person, and the joint cooperative efforts.
Once people can view the issue and situation both from their own perspective and the other persons’ perspectives, they can more easily find mutually beneficial solutions.
Perspective-taking also communicates that one really understands their thoughts, feelings, and needs. It is usually easier to jointly solve a problem when the other people feel understood and respected.
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