Social Skills and Study Group Acceptance: Research with Higher Education

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International Journal of Advances in Psychology (IJAP) Volume 3 Issue 4, November 2014 doi: 10.14355/ijap.2014.0304.02

www.ij-psychol.org

Social Skills and Study Group Acceptance: Research with Higher Education Social Skills and education Daniel Bartholomeu*1, José Maria Montiel2, Michael J. Bernstein3 Department of Educational Psychology - UNIFIEO, 3Department of Psychological and Social Sciences, Penn State University Abington 1/2

Avenida Franz Voegeli, 300 Vila Yara – Osasco/SP – Brasil; 3Penn State Abington, 1600 Woodland Road, Office 236, Abington, PA 19001, USA. 1/2

d_bartholomeu@yahoo.com.br; 2montieljm@hotmail.com; 3 mjb70@psu.edu

*1

Abstract

antecedents of social acceptance and rejection.

This study aimed to investigate relations between social skills and study acceptance-rejection in college students. One-hundred and twenty-six college students attending at physical education course from a university of the interior of the São Paulo state were studied. The social skills assessment included the Social Skills Inventory (IHS) and the sociometric measure to evaluate students’ rejection/acceptance by their peers in the study. All ethical procedures were attended. Results indicated that acceptance in both situations was not explained by any of the social skills to men. For women, acceptance was explained by the self-exposition to stranger’s measure. This research elucidates some of the social behaviors that can be used in social skills entrainments with men and women to avoid its rejection in the group and maximizes the acceptance.

While researchers have debated various causes, one domain of interest, however, is that of social skills; social skills are related to social acceptance in several studies listed below. Nevertheless, research on this topic using college students is severely lacking in the literature and we believe there is a need for further investigation with regard to social skills in varying school populations. How social acceptance and rejection is explained among different school aged populations even after controlling for other factors is potentially important for our understanding of not only how to predict social inclusion and exclusion, but also how to change behaviors towards increasing acceptance and decreasing rejection. As one domain of research, individuals’ social skills are one important avenue of study in this domain.

Keywords Sociometry; Social Skills; Study Acceptance; College Students

Introduction According to Moreno (1972), sociometry is the mathematical study of psychological properties of a population. Although the term connotes measurement, it is the qualitative structure underlying the quantitative social behavior within a group that is actually assessed. The complex chain of interrelationships between people are designated in sociometry as a sociometric network. These networks have the social function of forming and constituting social norms. In this sense, affective aspects originate attraction and rejection processes between individuals which is called "tele." In other words, the so-called “tele” comprises a type of empathy explaining the bidirectional flow of attraction or repulsion between two individuals (Moreno, 1972; Martinelli & Sisto, 2006). Despite this, Moreno (1972) has pointed out that sociometric measures are not sufficient to explain the

That social skills play a role in social acceptance and rejection is not itself a novel idea. Bullock, Ironsmith and Poteat (1988) recommend that children who are rejected within their sociometric network be considered as primary candidates for a program of social skills training in order to increase their acceptance in their social groups. The same is suggested by Csapo (2006) in her study on social skills training among socially isolated children in schools. Research clearly suggests social skills have an impact on social inclusion and exclusion. However, it is noteworthy that the concepts of social skills and social competence are not necessarily equivalent. Although there are some debate among scholars as to the definition of social competence, there is agreement on the fact that socially competent behavior is produced by a series of specific learned skills subjected to environmental and personal factors.

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