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Social skills are a group of skills which people need to interact and communicate with others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization.

Examples

• Verbal communication
  • Small talk or conversation
  • Sharing jokes
  • Sharing and discussing of ideas (politics, religion, sports, music, technology, internet, current events, fashion, and movies are all common topics.)
  • Teaching or learning
• Nonverbal communication
  • Active listening
  • Body language
• Both verbal and nonverbal
  • Conflict resolution
  • Intercultural relations
  • Persuading
  • Display of enthusiasm
  • Motivating
  • Playfulness

In Behavior Therapy

To behaviorists, social skills are learned behavior that allow people to achieve social reinforcement and to avoid social punishment.^[1] According to Schneider & Bryne (1985), who conducted a meta-analysis of social skills training procedures (51 studies), operant conditioning procedures for training social skills had the largest effect size, followed by modeling, coaching, and social cognitive techniques. ^[2]

Types of social skill

The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

• • Verbal
    • Intelligible speech (not too loud or soft, not dropping off the end of sentences)
    • Variable tone (avoidance of a monotonous tone)
    • Appropriate sense of humor
  • Non-verbal
    • Active listening
    • Confident stance (standing up straight but not at attention)
    • Relaxed manner (not too tense, not falling asleep)
    • Body language in sync with the verbal message
    • Leans forward while talking
    • Open stance (not closed hands)
    • Touching conversation partner (only in appropriate situations, as this can be misinterpreted)
    • Smile (but not overdoing)
    • Remembers and uses names during conversation
    • Maintaining appropriate eye contact (varies between cultures)

• • Other
  • Skilled in diplomacy (how one handles disagreements)
  • Readiness to show polite interest
  • Expressing empathy in thought by giving accurate and kindly feedback

See also

• Aggression Replacement Training
• Anti-social
• Emotional Intelligence
• Social anxiety
• Social behavior
• Social cognition
• Social reality
• Social space
• Introversion and extroversion
• Systems intelligence
• Intercultural competence
• Metacommunicative competence
• Verbal abuse
• Computer widow

External links and references

The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• Some Facts Psychologists Know About… SOCIAL SKILLS
• Teaching Social Skills
• Encouraging Social Skills in Young Children
• Information on Social Skills for Male College Students
• National Association of School Psychologists on Social Skills
• Stategies for teaching social skills to children

References

1. ^ Gresham, F. M. & Elliot, S.N. (1984). Assessment of social skills: A review of methods and issues. School Psychology Review, 13, 292-301.
2. ^ Schneider, B.H. & Bryne, B.M. (1985). Children's social skills training: A meta-analysis. In B.H. Schneider, K. Rubin, & J.E. Ledingham (Eds.) Children's Peer relations: Issues in assessment and intervention (pp. 175-190). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 4 September 2008, at 16:40.

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