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Social Skill Measurement: Standardization of Scale

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Abstract

Social skills help individual to interact and perform effectively in a given social context and is associated with educational accomplishment, psychological adaptation, coping abilities, and employment. In lieu of the growing importance of social skill in every aspect of individual’s life, it was felt imminent to evolve a scale for general population. Development and validation of the social skill scale are labelled under three levels—Phase I—writing of items and content validation, Phase II—factor analysis, Phase III—testing reliability and validity. An exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation of the intercorrelations of the 23 items resulted in a 5-factor solution: leadership skill, team integration skill, affiliative skill, interpersonal skill, and social engagement skill. The present study will be an applied research with the objectives of developing an instrument of social skills, which can help in assessment process, used for intervention purposes targeting a definite population.

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Fig. 1

Availability of Data and Materials

Data is available on request.

Code Availability

IBM SPSS Statistics 23.

Abbreviations

CVR:

Content validity ratio

EFA:

Exploratory factor analysis

HCSBS:

Home and Community Social Behaviour Scales

MESSY:

Matson Evaluation of Social Skills in Youngsters

PKBS:

Preschool and Kindergarten Behaviour Scales

SSBS-2:

School Social Behaviour Scales-2

SSRS:

Social Skills Rating System

TISS:

Teenage Inventory of Social Skills

WSSRS:

Waksman Social Skills Rating Scale

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Funding

This study is independently pursued by the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Health Psychology, University of Hyderabad, Prof. CR Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500046, India

    Meera Padhy & Meena Hariharan

Authors
  1. Meera Padhy
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  2. Meena Hariharan
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Contributions

Both the authors participated in the item development process of the scale. MP analysed and interpreted the data and contributed to writing the results and discussion. MH contributed to writing the introduction, review of the literature and referencing. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Meera Padhy.

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Conflicts of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Approval from the Ethics Committee of the University where the author is working and the appropriate school and college authorities have been obtained prior to starting the study and hence, have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Appendix

Appendix

Social Skills

NAME: ________________________________ AGE: ______ GENDER: ____

School/College/ Organization________________________________ Government/ Private______________________________

Class________________________________ Years of Experience________________________________

Instructions For each of the following statements, please tick (V) in only one box that describes you the best. Please read each sentence carefully and answer honestly.

S. no

Question

Never

Sometimes

Frequently

Always

1.

I actively/patiently listen to what people have to say

    

2.

When I realize that it is my mistake I try to make amends with the person

    

3.

I can lead/manage a team

    

4.

I appreciate the efforts of others

    

5.

I am comfortable to work in team

    

6.

I am good at handling conflicts in a group

    

7.

I can make friends easily

    

8.

I keep in contact with my friends

    

9.

I take part in group activities

    

10.

I volunteer to take responsibility

    

11.

I stand by my decisions

    

12.

I maintain eye contact during conversations

    

13.

I take responsibility for my actions

    

14.

I am open in my expression

    

15.

I feel comfortable when I am at a party or large groups

    

16.

I communicate easily with others

    

17.

I can manage social events easily

    

18.

I have a good sense of humour that keeps others in good spirits

    

19.

I have long-lasting friendships

    

20.

I see the positive aspects in people

    

21.

I easily resolve disagreements among others

    

22.

I am able to inspire individuals

    

23.

I can nurture relationships

    
  1. 1. Leadership skill (Items 3,6,17,18,21,22)
  2. 2. Team integration skill (Items 5, 15)
  3. 3. Affiliative skill (Items 1,2,4, 12, 20)
  4. 4. Interpersonal skill (Items 7,8,16, 19,23)
  5. 5. Social engagement skill (Items 9,10,11,13,14)
  6. Social Skill Scale (All 23 Items)

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Padhy, M., Hariharan, M. Social Skill Measurement: Standardization of Scale. Psychol Stud 68, 114–123 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00693-4

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