Social skills students characterization

Abstract

The entering at the University requires new social skills and their deficits may bring to students academic and interpersonal difficulties. Few studies have addressed the influence of undergraduate periods and gender differences regarding social skills shown by college students, including frequency and quality which they occur and previous and consequent interaction variables. The main objective of this article is to describe the social skills shown by college students over undergraduate years. For specific objectives this study intends (a) the comparison of student groups in different years (first/second; first/third; second/third) of full-time and nocturne periods, of men and women and (b) the presentation of functional analysis of interactions, considering the most frequent behaviors and contexts. For that, 85 students of Design course were analyzed through the following instruments: the Social Skills Questionnaire to College Students, Behaviors and Contexts; and the Social Skills Inventory (SSI). The results indicate differences between men and women and between full-time students and nocturne ones, and the greatest differences were in comparison between years, indicating that the first and second years require greater investments in interventions, because they present greater difficulties in communication behaviors, expressiveness and conflict resolution. Furthermore, implications, limitations and suggestions for research are discussed.

Key words: college students, social skills, assessment.