ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

Advances in Psychological Science ›› 2012, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (12): 1991-2000.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01991

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Social Competence: Concepts and Theoretical Models

ZHANG Jing;TIAN Lu-Mei;ZHANG Wen-Xin   

  1. (School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China)
  • Received:2012-05-22 Online:2012-12-15 Published:2012-12-15
  • Contact: ZHANG Wen-Xin

Abstract: Despite of the long-standing tradition of research, researchers disagree with each other on the nature of social competence, and hence a unified definition of the social competence has not been reached even until present. At least three approaches to defining social competence can be discerned in literature, including the skill-approach, the outcome-approach and the integrated approach, respectively. Based upon these conceptualizations, especially the integrated approach, several theoretical models of social competence have been proposed in extant literature, including the component models, the process models, the prism model and so on. This paper first reviewed these major conceptualizations and related theoretical models, and then proposed an integrative view of social competence. Possible cultural differences in social competence from this integrative view are also discussed.

Key words: social competence, the integrated approach, the prism model