Social Competence and Incompetence: A Comparison of Conversational Content and Style.

Abstract

MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 Anxiety; *Behavior Patterns; *College Students; *Dating (Social)_; Interaction; *Interpersonal Competence; Males; *Social Behavior; Social Maturity This paper reports data from two studies on the behavioral assessment of social competence in college males which look at how well the male initiates interaction with a female in a boy meets girl situation. The goal is to determine the types of social behavior which will differentiate between a group of anxious, non-dating, or low social-competence, college men (LSC), and a group of non-anxious, socially active, or high social-competence college men (HSC). The first study examined behaviors associated with social delivery such as eye contact, pauses, and amount of talking. The second study looked at stylistic behaviors associated with social manner such as self-disclosure, use of verbal reinforcements, and the type of content used within a social interaction. The studies employed several levels of assessment in the definition of social competence, ranging from self-report to peer rating to direct observation of behavior. The subjects were 35 unmarried male undergraduates. Group differences on the behavioral measures of social competence suggest that the latency or timing and length of social responses tend to discriminate between HSC and LSC subjects. None of the stylistic or content measures coded on the male subjects' behavior are able to discriminate significantly between LSC and HSC groups. (Author) 4.0 U.S OEPARTME NT OF HEALTH. EOUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EOUCATION iHr, DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DucED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY Patricia Hines Paper presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, 1973 SOCIAL COMPETENCE AND INCOMPETENCE: A COMPARISON OF CONVERSATIONAL CONTENT AND STYLE In the present paper, I will be reporting data from two studies on the behavioral assessment of social competence in college males. Social competence, broadly defined, refers to an individual's ability to manage his social interactions in a fashion that provides him with a sense of comfort, accomplishment, and emotional satisfaction. In the present studies, we have restricted ourselves to investigating one aspect of social competence which is important in college men's failure to date. We have chosen to look at how well the male handles the initials of an interaction with a female--the boy meets girl situation. Most research which attempts to assess individual differences in social competence has relied on the development of questionnaire measures for this purpose (e.g. Dixon et al., 1957; Lanyon, 1967; Effran and Karn, 1969; and Watson and Friend, 1969). A few other investigators have looked at socially competent performances in terms of general interpersonal style. Argyle (1967), for example, has suggested that the socially effective person has learned a repertoire of techniques for influencing another individual's social behavior. Agyris (1965) and Watkins (1972) draw on the group process consultation literature to describe the socially competent individual as a person who conveys a large amount of information about his own experiences, interests, and feelings to his partners in social interaction. The present studies focus on identifying specific behaviors which can be used in a behavioral definition of social competence in college males. The research strategy involves determining the types of social behavior which will differentiate between a group of anxious, non-dating college men and a group of