What approaches are there to assess social skills?

There are various ways to assess social skills. Three central approaches can be distinguished:

• Self-concept: How people evaluate their own social skills (e.g. via self-report questionnaires)
• Hypothetical behavior: What individuals indicate how they would or should behave in certain social situations (e.g. via situational judgment tests)
• Actual behavior: How people actually behave in real or simulated social situations (e.g. using standardized behavioral observations)

Self-concepts and hypothetical behavior can capture relevant sub-aspects of social skills, such as attitudes, beliefs or action plans. However, actual differences in social skills only become apparent through behavior in relevant social situations. Studies also show that there are often only slight correlations between self-concepts and observable behavior >. This suggests a focus on behavioral methods, especially if social skills are to be assessed and promoted in a differentiated manner.

How can social skills be assessed behaviorally?

A behavioral assessment involves observing people's behavior in social situations.This requires procedures in which real interpersonal interaction takes place, for example in the form of simulations with other people (“role plays”) with defined requirements.

Behavior is assessed by trained observers. This is based on clear criteria that relate to specific behaviors. Such procedures are complex, as they require realistic situations and trained assessors. At the same time, they enable a differentiated and practical assessment of social skills and thus create a sound basis for research, diagnostics and training.

Our research > shows that social skills can be measured particularly reliably in this way. For the most accurate measurement possible, it is advisable to confront people with a large number of rather short interpersonal situations, each of which is specifically geared towards one social skill.

How must situations be designed in order to elicit social skills?

Differences in social skills become visible when certain behaviors are required for an effective solution to an interpersonal situation. This is why we design simulated scenarios with different social requirements at CeSoS. As a rule, each situation aims to challenge a specific Skill. The characteristics of the situation differ depending on the area of Skill:

Agency Skill

Situations in which active, self-confident and assertive behavior is required. For example:

Confrontation with resistance or indifference

Owning and implementing independent decisions

Resolving conflicts

Communion Skill

Situations in which warm, caring and empathetic behavior is required. For example:

Meeting people in need of help or who are sad

Dealing with despair or dissatisfaction

Delivering distressing news

Interpersonal resilience

Situations that require emotional stability and composure. For example:

Confrontation with criticism or social pressure

Performance-related feedback

These specifically designed situations enable a behavioral assessment - by observing whether and how well people manage to act appropriately in critical moments.

How can social skills be assessed effectively?

A reliable assessment of social skills requires trained observers and clearly defined criteria. As a rule, assessors undergo structured training in which they learn to systematically recognize and classify relevant behaviors based on specific behavioral anchors. In order to minimize bias, the behavior is usually assessed independently by several observers. The assessments are then aggregated in order to obtain a skill profile that is as objective and differentiated as possible.