Abstract (eng)
Theory of Mind (ToM) and empathy are supposed to be crucial elements of social cognition and social functioning. While impairments of cognitive empathy, known as affective ToM, are reported within the schizophrenia spectrum, emotional empathy seems to be unaffected. Nevertheless people with schizophrenia report issues with social interactions. In the present study both constructs were investigated with Parasocial Interaction (PSI), which is the interaction between a fictive figure and a spectator, in connection with schizotypy. Forty six participants with high rated (SPQ-high) and 49 participants with low rated schizotypy traits (SPQ-low) between 18 and 36 years were tested in a cross-sectional study. Affective ToM, which was measured by the “Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition” (MASC), was lower in the SPQ-high group. The PSI was measured after displaying one positive, one neutral and one negative short-film. The SPQ-high group showed higher PSI under all conditions. Impaired affective ToM was positive related to PSI under the neutral film condition. While the SPQ-high group scored higher on the “personal distress”-scale of the Saarbrücker Persönlichkeitsfragebogen (SPF), differences in the SPF’s “empathic concern” and “Mutlifaceted Empathy Test” (MET), which assessed performance-based empathy, were not shown. Consistent correlations between PSI and emotional empathy were not found. PSI was higher for people with high scores of schizotypy, while affective ToM was shown to be impaired and emotional empathy was intact. A distinct relationship between affective ToM and PSI and emotional empathy and PSI was not observed.