The Science of Theatre

    My favorite things in the entire world are science and acting. Those two don't seem to correlate, but many articles I have read beg to differ. The articles are hardly credible and should be doubted, but I read them nonetheless, and part of science is knowing to not believe everything you hear. So in honor of the fact that I should be reviewing my lines right now for the upcoming play, The Great Gatsby, here is my weekly science blog.

Picture credited to: bloomsbury.com

    One of the more interesting posts I've perused that involved both dramatics and science was called  "Think Acting Is About Emotional Empathy? Science Says No." written by someone with the username Peopletriggers. Yes, there isn't even a real author's name, so the likelihood of the science being correct is slim, but I found the post intriguing anyway.
    This article talks about how most people look at dramatics as an emotional exercise. The majority of people believe that those who are empathetic would be more likely to be good actors, but science, apparently, disproves this thought.
    Thalia Goldstein, a social science researcher from Pace University who studies the relationship between acting and psychology, believes the ability to act lies in a psychological concept called “Theory of Mind.” Theory of Mind is the understanding that “two people can have different but equally valid interpretations of the same object or image,” and the term describes a person’s ability to understand someone else’s interpretation. Theory of mind (the ability to understand another’s mental state and motivations) is very different from empathy (the ability to put oneself in someone else’s emotional place). We know this by studying psychopaths and bullies. Psychopaths and bullies are extraordinarily socially adapted, and manipulate people by getting in their head, but have little or no empathy.

Picture credited to: dynamics.com

    Goldstein administered tons of Theory of Mind and empathy tests to groups of actors and non-actors. Goldstein conducted two separate studies to this effect and found similar results: acting training was significantly associated with heightened Theory of Mind skills, but not heightened empathy skills. This could be for two reasons, that acting causes people to be more socially aware, or acting attracts more socially aware people in the first place.
  I found this article to be quite interesting because although people tell me I am a talented actress, I don't find myself to be a very empathetic person. I always thought this to be strange because I personally thought being able to put oneself in another's shoes was the key to acting, but I feel that the Theory of Mind idea is much more logical and correlates more with my lack of empathy. If you would like to read the article yourself you can find the link below!
https://peopletriggers.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/think-acting-is-about-emotional-empathy-science-says-no/