Sex and personality differences in self-reported social skills among British adolescents

Despite the fact that a considerable amount of research has been done, both in America and Britain, on social skills training and assessment, few studies have looked at either sex differences or personality correlates of social skills. A homogeneous group of over 200 normal British adolescents were administered a standard British personality and social skills questionnaire. Although there seemed very little evidence of sex differences in self-reported social anxiety, two personality variables--extraversion and neuroticism--were clearly related to social anxiety. Factor analysis of the social skills scale produced five clearly interpretable factors. The results were discussed in terms of social skills assessment and training.