Teoria da mente em adultos: um estudo exploratório da compreensão de enunciados irônicos em adultos privados de liberdade

Abstract

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a cognitive capacity related to the representation and attribution of one’s own and others’ mental states. It may be understood either as a specialized module for processing specific types of information (FODOR, 1983b) or as a mechanism emerging from social cognition, on which other mental functions depend (TOMASELLO, 2003). This capacity begins to develop in early childhood, and studies suggest that its functioning may be influenced by subjective experiences throughout adulthood (APPERLY et al., 2011; MARTINS; BARRETO; CASTIAJO, 2014; TOLEDO; RODRIGUES, 2017). Within this framework, different socialization conditions may affect how individuals interpret intentions, attitudes, and implicit meanings in communicative situations. This study investigates the relationship between ToM and the comprehension of nonliteral utterances — especially irony — in incarcerated adults. The central hypothesis posits that the prison environment, as a specific social context, may impact interpretive abilities that rely on mental state attribution. To explore this, an experimental study was conducted using linguistic tasks involving ironic praise and ironic criticism (DEWS; WINNER, 1995; NONATO, 2020). Data were collected through three instruments: (i) a sociodemographic questionnaire; (ii) the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS), translated into European Portuguese (JOSÉ; PARREIRA, 2008) and adapted for this study; and (iii) the Strange Stories protocol (HAPPÉ, 1994; O'HARE et al., 2009), also adapted for the target population. The sample included 11 adults serving sentences in closed-regime incarceration and 40 non-incarcerated participants, grouped by educational level. Responses for instrument (iii) were classified as “target” or “non-target” according to previously established interpretive accuracy criteria. Results revealed statistically significant differences between groups, with higher performance among non-incarcerated participants. A greater number of target responses were observed for critical utterances (both literal and ironic) compared to praise, with ironic praise yielding the lowest number of target responses across all groups. These findings support the hypothesis that social and contextual factors influence ToM functioning in adulthood and suggest possible effects of incarceration on the comprehension of nonliteral linguistic content. Moreover, the results are consistent with previous studies employing online methods (NONATO, 2020).