An Inventory of Social Skills

Abstract

A social skills inventory of 128 true-false items was constructed to assess eight hypothesized bipolar dimensions. In a series of principal component analyses, seven of the constructs plus an added concept were isolated in both college and high school men and women. Some of the factors isolated were Social Assertiveness, Directiveness, Defense of Rights, Confidence, and Empathy. Two higher order factors—Social Skill and Empathy—were also identified in several samples. Validity studies revealed strong commonalities with Riggio's (1986) Social Skills Inventory, the Horowitz Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, the Watson and Friend (1969) Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, and a set of self-ratings. These findings suggest that the Social Relations Survey (SRS) is a useful device for clinical and research application to problems involving social skills.