Much of what people do is motivated by a concern with social evaluation. We argue that the process of figuring out what others value and making effective use of this information presents significant cognitive challenges. These challenges include reasoning about the relevance of different forms of information and making inferences about the mental lives of others. They also include modifying one’s behavior in light of whatever personal qualities appear to be valued in an effort to appeal to different audiences. We argue that the foundations of many of the important skills needed to meet these challenges are already in place early during childhood, but that the challenges themselves persist well into adulthood.

人们所做的很多事情都是出于对社会评价的关注。我们认为，弄清楚他人重视什么并有效利用这些信息的过程会带来重大的认知挑战。这些挑战包括推理不同形式信息的相关性以及推断他人的心理生活。它们还包括根据任何个人品质似乎受到重视以努力吸引不同的受众来修改一个人的行为。我们认为，应对这些挑战所需的许多重要技能的基础在童年早期就已经就位，但挑战本身会持续到成年期。