Actors must imagine themselves in a different world: they must adopt the perspective of multiple characters, grasp their beliefs and intentions, and feel their emotions. In this study we tested the hypothesis that actors have unusually sharp mind-reading abilities and unusually strong empathy. In Study 1, adolescent actors outperformed adolescents without acting experience in their ability to imagine the mental states expressed by pictures of peoples' eyes (a theory of mind measure), but did not excel on empathy as measured by a self-report scale. In Study 2, we replicated these findings with young adults using a different measure of theory of mind. These findings show that adolescent and adult actors are skilled in reading others' mental states, but do not report above average levels of empathy. Thus, strength in theory of mind can exist independently of strength in empathy.
Psychologists today are challenged as ethical decision makers by the ever-expanding development and use of digital technology in their own lives and in the lives of their clients. In this survey study, 256 doctorallevel U.S. psychologists rated their frequency of engagement in and ethical attitudes regarding four digital boundary crossings: advertising online, providing psychoeducation online, engaging in a digital nonsexual multiple relationship, and patient-targeted Googling. The study also examined six potential predictors of engagement and attitudes: therapist gender, therapist theoretical orientation, therapist years of professional clinical experience, client gender, the interaction of therapist gender and client gender, and digital status (i.e., therapists' self-identification as digital natives or digital immigrants). Practice frequencies and ethicality ratings varied significantly depending on the boundary crossing considered. Significant predictors were identified for only one digital crossing: patient-targeted Googling. Therapist gender predicted the frequencies of patient-targeted Googling and hours of professional clinical experience predicted ethicality ratings. Professional implications, training recommendations for therapists, and directions for additional research are included. Public Significance StatementThis study revealed that U.S. psychologists' practice frequencies and ethicality ratings for four digital boundary crossings (advertising online, providing psychological education online, accepting "follow" or "friend" requests from clients via social media, and patient-targeted Googling) vary widely according to the crossing considered. Significant predictors (therapist gender and hours of professional experience) were identified only for patient-targeted Googling. Participants' ethicality ratings pointed to the need for more guidance regarding digital crossings. The article presents recommendations for updating the APA Ethics Code, therapist training, and future research.
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