Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Psychology, Behshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Behshahr, Iran
2
M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology, Sciences and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3
Department of Psychology, Bandargaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandargaz, Iran.
Abstract
Background and Aim: Achieving comprehensive 21st-century progress requires nurturing mature, thoughtful, and highly skilled individuals through holistic education to maximize human capital potentia. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of theory of mind and self-compassion in predicting the sense of coherence in adolescents aged 11–16 in Sari.
Method: From the perspective of its purpose, this research is applied, and from the standpoint of methodology, it is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of all adolescents aged 11–16 in Sari, totaling 10,324 individuals in the academic year 2019–2020 (1398), based on the information obtained from the Statistics Center of Sari Governorate. From this population, using Krejcie and Morgan’s table, the sample size was determined to be 384 participants. To collect data, the following questionnaires were used: the Theory of Mind questionnaire by Sternman (1999), the Self-Compassion Scale by Neff (2003), and the Sense of Coherence questionnaire by Antonovsky (1993). For statistical analysis, percent, frequency, mean, and standard deviation were calculated, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient test and multiple regression analysis were conducted using SPSS-18.
Results: The findings showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between total scores and the subscales of theory of mind and the sense of coherence in adolescents. Additionally, total scores of self-compassion and its subscales (such as self-kindness, self-judgment, isolation, and mindfulness) were positively and significantly related to theory of mind in adolescents. Regression analysis indicated that theory of mind alone explained approximately 7% of the variance in adolescents’ sense of coherence. Moreover, the components of self-judgment, self-kindness, and shared humanity (i.e., the subcomponents of self-compassion) together accounted for about 11% of the variance in adolescents’ sense of coherence.
Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrated that there is a meaningful relationship between adolescents’ theory of mind and their sense of coherence. Furthermore, self-compassion and its components—including self-kindness and self-compassion rather than self-judgment—contribute to improving both theory of mind and the sense of coherence. These relationships are also predictable from a regression perspective.
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