Social Intelligence: Its History and Measurement

Abstract

Social intelligence, the ability to understand others and to act wisely in social situations, is a concept with a long history, sporadic development, but promise as a late bloomer. Although current references to social intelligence per se are limited, the concept appears to be alive and well under various terms, e.g., role-taking, interpersonal competence, egocentrism (or decentering), and empathy. This review was designed, therefore, to: (a) serve an integrative function by tracing the history of social intelligence and its ramifications; (b) provide an overview of the measurement approaches and relevant research; (c) consider substantive issues, such as the relationship of social intelligence to abstract intelligence and the status of measuring the understanding and action aspects of the concept.

Building a Joint-Service Classification Research Roadmap: Individual Differences Measurement

“…Comprehensive reviews of the literature on social intelligence have been conducted by Walker and Foley (1973) and Sternberg (1985). Based on these reviews, it is evident that social intelligence may have some potential as a predictor of performance in interpersonal situations.…”

“…Despite the interpretive and definitional difficulties surrounding the concept, a number of tests have been developed to measure it; many of these tests were reviewed by Walker and Foley (1973). Included in the study were the George Washington Social Intelligence Test developed by Moss, Hunt, Omwake, and Woodward (1955); the Social Insight Test developed by Chapin (1967); and a series of tests developed by Guilford (1967).…”

Judging and estimating other people’s value: from judgment biases to social competence

“…L'importance de ce savoir-faire social était déjà soulignée par Thorndike (1920), l'un des pères de la psychométrie, qui distinguait l'intelligence sociale, définie comme la capacité à agir judicieusement dans les relations humaines, des autres formes d'intelligence. Plus récemment, la compétence sociale a été définie comme la capacité à accomplir des tâches interpersonnelles (Weinstein, 1969), à accomplir des objectifs sociaux dans un contexte social spécifique (Ford, 1982), à décoder correctement l'information sociale afin d'y adapter en conséquence son comportement (Walker & Foley, 1973), à se comporter de manière adaptée, efficace, socialement acceptable ou estimée comme telle, dans une situation donnée (Combs & Slaby, 1977), à adopter des comportements sociaux qui soient positivement renforcés par l'entourage social et à éviter ceux qui sont réprimés ou punis (Libet & Lewinshom, 1973).…”

“…D'une part, le degré de compréhension de l'autre, du sens de l'interaction et de l'évènement social, qui implique le décodage et l'analyse de l'information sociale (notamment des indices non-verbaux ; Walker & Foley, 1973), l'empathie et la sensibilité sociale (Feshbach & Feshbach, 1987;Ford, 1982), ce que certains auteurs résument sous le terme de « conscience sociale » : la compréhension des causes et des significations du comportement d'autrui, y compris des sentiments et des émotions qui le sous-tende (Greenspan, 1981). D'autre part, le degré d'adhésion ou de respect des règles, normes et rôles sociaux en vigueur dans un groupe social donné que certains auteurs qualifient de « responsabilité sociale » (Wentzel, 1991a).…”

Sosyal Zekânin İleti̇şi̇m Beceri̇leri̇ Üzeri̇ne Etki̇si̇: Üni̇versi̇te Öğrenci̇leri̇ Üzeri̇ne Bi̇r Araştirma

“…Marlowe 'ye göre sosyal zekâ,"sosyal zekâ ya da sosyal yeterlik, kişiler arası durumlarda kişinin kendisi dahil, insanların duygu, düşünce ve davranışlarını anlama ve o anlayışa uygun davranma yeteneğidir." (Walker ve Foley, 1973ve Marlowe, 1986Akt: Doğan ve Çetin, 2009. Silvera vd., ise sosyal zekâ; "diğer insanları ve her bir değişik sosyal duruma nasıl tepki vereceklerini anlama yeteneği" olarak tanımlayarak sosyal zekâyı üç boyut belirlemişlerdir.…”