Work

Being Close and Being Social: Peer Ratings of Distinct Aspects of Young Adult Social Competence

Year: 2007

Type: article

Abstract: The present study had three main objectives: (1) to develop and validate scales of young adult social competence in two domains, close relationships and social groups, using peer ratings of California Q-sort (Block, 1974 Block, J. 1974. The Q-Sort Method of Personality Assessment and Psychiatric Research, Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. [Google Scholar]; Kremen & Block, 2002 Kremen, A. M. and Block, J. 2002. Absorption: Construct explication by Q-sort assessments of personality. Journal of Research in Personality., 36: 252–259. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) items; (2) to test the hypothesis that social competence is associated with young adult well-being and ego development; (3) to test the hypothesis that close relationship competence aligns more closely than social group competence with young adult functioning. Psychometric data on peer ratings of social competence are presented. For 133 young adults, peer ratings of social competence were correlated in expected directions with indices of functioning (e.g., self-worth, education, psychological distress, criminal behavior, and ego development). Associations were generally stronger for competence in close relationships than in social groups.

Source: Journal of Personality Assessment

DOI: 10.1080/00223890701468501

Authors: Justine J. Larson, Sarah W. Whitton, Stuart T. Hauser, Joseph P. Allen

Institutions: Harvard University, Judge Baker Children's Center, University of Virginia

Language: English

Topic: Personality Traits and Psychology

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: G2422099390, Adolescent Peer and Family Relationship Predictors of Adult Health