Abstract
The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between social networking and face-to-face communication with respect to their influence on the social interaction skills. The first aim of the research has to determine whether there is a causal relationship between use of social networking tools and face-to-face communication behaviors. The research aims to investigate the hypothesis. There will be a statistically significant difference in change/gain scores for communication behaviors between the experimental group and the control group; Face-to-face communication is associated with the students’ social media networking habits (i.e. time spent on social media networking). There will be a statistically significant difference in change/gain scores for social interaction skills between the experimental group and the control group; the quality of social skills interaction is associated with the students’ social media networking habits (time spent on social media networking). The proposed study will adopt a pretest-posttest control group experimental design to investigate the effect of the use of Facebook on communication behaviors and social interaction skills. Students will be randomly assigned to either Facebook discussion group (experimental group) or a writing group (control group) to discuss or write on topics on current or campus issues of interest to the students. Independent-samples t-test will be run using IBM SPSS Version 23 to determine if the participants in each group differed significantly in their pretest and posttest scores on communication behaviors and social interaction skills. Finally, the researcher will employ the use of correlation study, which is will be used to determine whether the variables within the study are correlated.
Keywords: face-to-face communication, social interaction, social networking tool
The rapid development of social media technologies posed a serious question of whether they are sabotaging the real face-to-face communication. The topic of the current research intends to dissect the recent paradigm shift from face-to-face communication to overreliance on social networking media. It seems that society has to part with many fundamental communication skills at the altar of technological convenience (Chambers, 2013). According to Grusec and Hastings (2008), tools like the classical Dewey decimal system that was used to search for a non-fiction book cannot even be remembered now. Instead, Google has dominated the search place. Most of those who use the modern-day internet technologies are the youth. Considering the increasing scientific interest in the virtual communication phenomenon, it becomes necessary to outline the key definitions for this paper. Thus, the social media represents the concept uniting all social communication means and networking services. In fact, this is the type of mass communication via Internet having a number of significant distinctions from the traditional communication means . The issue of the battle between social networking media and face-to-face communication arouses a burning interest in academic circles due to its drastic impact on individuals’ communication worldwide. Another important definition is the virtual reality representing the world created by technical means affecting the human mind via vision, hearing, and even smell and sense of touch. Both definitions belong to the modern Internet phenomena having a direct impact on human communication behaviors and social interaction skills .
This research proposal aims to determine the effects of individuals’ social media usage compared to face-to-face communication to see how the social media phenomenon affects the quantity and quality of the real face-to-face communication. The importance of the current research to the general area of psychological study can be explained by the fact that the recently revealed negative and positive effects of social networking media on the human psyches proved to be significant (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010. However, both sides of these effects have to be further researched in order to answer the questions of how all these technological advancements actually affect the face-to-face communication.
Literature Review
Over the last decades, the usage of various types of communication means in households and studies has drastically increased from 8% in 1990 to 87% in 2011 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). According to Madrigal (2013), almost 90% of adults above the age of 45 in America have access to the Internet and mobile devices while those aged under 44 demonstrated the 97% access to internet services. The younger generation is especially responsible for the tremendous increase in social media networking usage. As was presented by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010), teenagers aged 9-18 devoted more time to social media networking than to any other type of activity. This study revealed that an average time spent on on-line communication in such networks as Facebook equaled to 7.5 hours daily (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010).
According to studies of Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, and Zickuhr (2010), 59% of social network users fell between the ages of 18-29 while the amount of time spent on social networks varied from person to person. However, this study revealed that the students spent around 47 minutes of their time throughout the day on Facebook, on average. The younger students in this sample reported a greater tendency to use social networking sites more often than older students, because, at this point, most of them want to connect with their peers (Pempek et al., 2009). Reasons, why people prefer to substitute the face-to-face communication for the virtual one, are diverse. Some experts assume that fast communication and ability to connect to a large group without the necessity of their physical audience become dominant . The others consider that the issue of social media networking being the result of intensive technological progress provoked a fertile ground for transferring the real communication to the virtual world marked by unrestricted, anonymous and free communication .
The invention of cellular technology and, in particular, electronic gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, and smart computers, might have facilitated the adoption of internet-based communication (Tonde & Mhaske, 2014). Due to mass production and user-friendly interfaces, the number of hours that people spend on electronic media is gradually rising. The majority of young people can type faster than write with pen and paper, can text a message faster than talk, and can research vast amounts of data with a computer faster than doing the same with the Dewey Decimal System (Abas, Channa, Farishta, Abas, & Naqvi, 2014).
This social behavior generated by the advancement of technology has affected practically every member of society (Roberts, 2015). Today families are living in silence at home due to the effects of social media brought about by the increased use of electronic gadgets (Roberts, 2015). Employers today are having a hard time in controlling the behaviors of their employees during the working hours . It has become a common thing to find a group of friends sitting together on a bench or under a tree, glued to their electronic devices with very little or no communication going on between them. Ironically, some of them happen to be chatting together on various social sites as if they are miles away yet they sit together on the same bench. This situation has led some to argue that the present-day technology might have created social barriers and negatively changed the way people socialize (Fine, 2010).
The majority of studies describing the effect of social media networking influence on face-to-face communication have been conducted in the late 2000s. According to Przybylski & Weinstein (2012), the technological progress made it easy for billions of people to communicate with their friends and relatives living miles away; however, little was known concerning the possible effect of these technological advancements on the real face-to-face interactions. Their studies showed that the presence of virtual communication via social media network strongly interferes with the personal relationship. The two independent test samples presented evidence that the frequent use of social media has a significant negative correlation with the conversation quality, closeness, and concern, especially when the participants tackled the personally meaningful issues .
Thus, Cheng, Yuan & Misra (2014), carried out an experiment demonstrating that face-to-face social interaction skills were significantly enhanced compared to other forms of communication such as the use of man-made devices. Besides, people communicating face-to-face manifested a higher degree of empathy and understanding (Cheng et al., 2014). This tendency results in weird effects when the person communicates more eagerly with strangers than with close relatives . The research of Campbell & Kwak (2011), analyzed the influence the gadgets have on the ability of a person to communicate face-to-face in a public setting. The study revealed that the individuals using mobile devices in public often get engaged in anonymous conversations with strangers, and consequently find themselves discussing various personal issues which may be viewed unnecessary under those circumstances.
According to Sponcil & Gitimu (2015), outlining the generation of “cyber-youth” or the young people using Internet as a part of their daily routine, called this type of communication “interaction rituals.” They pointed out that social media used for education, professional growth and leisure purposes promoted substantial decrease of social interaction skills among youths. The conclusion presented by this study claimed that the habit to replace face-to-face interaction with the virtual reality leads to the handicapped personal development and poor socializing skills.
According to Krystine, Michael, Broder, & Regina (2014), a repeated behavior has the capability to shape the personality of an individual. Similarly, the theory of nurture states that people develop their personality based on their day-to-day interactions with the environment (Chin-Shang, 2006). In this light, the use of social networking sites might have some effect on personality, especially in relation to face-to-face communication behaviors and social interactions skills. People with poor communication skills tend to have a low self-esteem and, as a result, become introverts (Stieger, 2013). This researcher argued that in extreme cases, such people might develop various psychological disorders, for instance, violent/aggressive behavior or misuse substances to console their ego.
Numerous research works concerning the effect of internet usage on interpersonal face-to-face communication behaviors and social interaction skills outlined a number of controversies balancing the cons and pros of social media networking . This controversy discusses whether the use of internet tools compromise the quantity and quality of face-to-face interactions. Baym et al. (2007), used dynamic new diary data to study the effect of internet use on sociability, with a special focus on face-to-face interactions. The time-diary approach was considered as the best approach to the study because participants were not able to manipulate survey questions in a manner intended to please the researcher. Researchers asked students about their activities of the previous day, focusing on randomly selected hours of that day.
Baym et al. (2007), found that internet use at home had a negative, strong relationship with time spent with relatives/friends and time spent on social activities. They also observed a strong negative correlation between internet use during the weekends and the time spent with loved ones and on social activities. Using displacement theory of internet use, they argued that internet use was an asocial activity that competed with face-to-face social time, rather than complementing it . However, Baym et al. (2007) reported findings that seemed to refute those of Nguyen and Western (2006). They surveyed university students on their recent social interactions while controlling for interaction and relationship type. Baym et al. (2007), found out that the amount of time spent on face-to-face communication and the quality of those interactions were not associated with participants’ internet use.
These two studies were conducted at a time when the social networking tools have not achieved their present power. A more recent study (Wang, Chua, & Stefanone, 2015) explored social affordances associated with different communication media when interacting with different social relationships among Singaporean university students. They established that a complex relationship exists between the use of social networks and personal well-being. On one hand, they found that frequent communication with strong ties to social network sites, text messaging, and face-to-face communication were related to personal well-being (Wang et al., 2015).
On the other hand, they also found that frequent use of social networks and text messaging (but not face-to-face communication) was significantly correlated with personal well-being (Wang et al., 2015). The findings suggest that students might use social network sites and text messaging to sustain both strong and weak ties. They observed that arguments that new media such as social networking sites hinder interpersonal communication had no basis, which was consistent with Baym et al.’s (2007) conclusions, but inconsistent with those of Nguyen and Western, (2006). These findings are consistent with evidence of a qualitative study among US adolescents reporting that some adolescents have strengthened their social connections because social networking sites such as MySpace enhanced openness, and sharing avenues (Greenhow & Robelia, 2009). Similarly, Valenzuela, Park, and Kee (2009) found that Facebook use was positive, significantly associated with social trust and political participation, although the correlations were small.
Finalizing the literature review section, it should be noted that the paper presented extensive evidence on the obvious effects (positive or negative), which social media networking has on the face-to-face communication and social interaction skills. The provided information seeks to find out the effect of the increased use of electronic gadgets on the daily communication behaviors and social interaction skills. However, the researchers conducted cross-sectional studies, and therefore could not make conclusions about causal relationships as exhibited in the experiment. The proposed study is designed to fill in this gap, by investigating whether there is a causal relationship between use of social networking tools and a person’s face-to-face and social interactions skills.
Purpose
The rationale purpose of this study is to examine the effects of individuals’ social media usage compared to face-to-face communication to see how the social media phenomenon affects the quantity and quality of the real face-to-face communication. Various studies have reported that technological advancements such as social networking tools have changed the way in which people socialize or interact with one another (Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert, 2009; Wang et al., 2015). The primary purpose of the proposed study is to determine whether the use of social networking tools among university students significantly affects face-to-face communication behaviors and social interactions skills. The secondary purpose of the paper is to determine whether gender plays any significant role in the relationship between use of social networking tools and face-to-face communication behaviors and social interaction skills.
Revealing these relationships will help us to better understand the dilemma concerning the importance of the technological progress, which from the one side improves speed and efficiency of operations in the economy and from the other side decreases the quality and openness of interpersonal communication. Is it better to accept what the progress gives us to ease communication or to put up with what it takes away in terms of social interaction? Therefore, carrying out an assessment on students who are perfectly aware of their own communication habits, this researcher will try to find out whether the interaction quality and face-to-face communication will inevitably be impacted by social media networking. In order to follow the rationale of the study, the below aims and hypothesis are presented.
Aims and Hypotheses
Aim 1: To determine whether there is a causal relationship between use of social networking tools and face-to-face communication behaviors:
Hypothesis 1a: There will be a statistically significant difference in change/gain scores for communication behaviors between the experimental group and the control group
Hypothesis 1 b: Face-to-face communication is associated with the students’ social media networking habits (i.e. time spent on social media networking).
Aim 2: To determine whether there is a causal relationship between use of social networking tools and face-to-face social interaction skills.
This aim will estimate the following specific hypotheses:
Hypothesis 2 a: There will be a statistically significant difference in change/gain scores for social interaction skills between the experimental group and the control group;
Hypothesis 2 b: There will be no a statistically significant difference in change/gain scores for social interaction skills between the experimental group and the control group
Method
This study will majorly focus on the use of the bootstrap technique, which offers a presentation of an efficient way for processing the sample data. In this paper, the bootstrap methodology will be optimal in estimating the known model parameters with a limited variable number when the sample is a given small finite population. The sampling design within the bootstrap methodology can be less informative than for other methods because the incorporated information weight components have a simple test based statistical instruments easily obtained via the standard statistical software programs. The benefits of using the bootstrap method of hypothesis testing include the easy provision of the bootstrap weights, rapid application of data even in case the sophisticated software package is absent. According to Beaumont & Bocci (2009, p. 25), bootstrap method “simulation results suggest that, overall, it performs similarly to the Rao-Scott procedure and better than the Wald and Bonferroni procedures when testing hypotheses”. Therefore, considering the study purposes the bootstrap method will provide a valid estimation even in case the sampling information is scarce.
The study will also employ the use of survey in relation to instrumentation. In this sense, two types of surveys, the questionnaire and interview will form the basis instrumentation. The open-ended questionnaires will be administered to the selected population sample with an aim of eliciting the views, and thoughts of the participants in relation to the topic under investigation. Such administration will emulate the guidelines stated by Hanbury, Thompson, Farley, & Thompson (2015) and Ledbetter et al. (2011). In addition, online interview will be carried out through SONA system, which will also facilitate the management of the students’ studies and consequently awarding the credits. In this study, the Sona systems will allow the participants to sign up through the Sona System.
Participants
The study will be conducted among twenty to forty McNeese State University students from the psychology department. University students will be chosen as the population for the proposed study because students are known to have integrated social networking into almost every aspect of their daily lives (Pembek et al., 2009). Students will be asked to sign up for the study through the Sona System. They will receive confirmation for their participation through the same system. Participants will be assigned to either experimental or control group through randomization.
Research Design
The proposed study will be conducted as a pretest-posttest experimental research design (Campbell & Stanley, 2015). The design will provide clarity in relation to the study of social networking tools on face-to-face communication behavior and social interaction skills. As a pretest-posttest experimental design, data from the two participants will be collected before and after the experiment. The post-intervention results will be compared with the pre-intervention results, for each group separately. The randomization will be accomplished through the use of a computer-based method.
Random assignment to groups will be used to control for the individual characteristics such as knowledge level of, and interest in the topics to be discussed. It will ensure that students in both experimental and control group are ideally identical in their individual characteristics. The use of an experimental design will ensure that effect of confounding variables is controlled. The control of the confounding variables (also called extraneous variables) is achieved by ensuring that all environmental features are held constant for the two groups, except for the variable that is manipulated (Campbell & Stanley, 2015). The experimental group will be exposed to a situation in which they discuss current issues through Facebook. The data concerning the researched topic is abundantly available in Facebook’s existing discussion groups. Some of the discussed issues include the presidential election, Presidential candidates, current events at the campus, etc. The specific topics that will be determined before the study. Facebook was chosen for the study because it is highly common and most visited social network among students.
In addition to the methods above, the researcher will employ the use of correlation study, which is will be used to determine whether the variables within the study are correlated. The variables in the case include one independent variable, which is the medium of communication and the two dependent variables which include the face-to-face communication and social networking tool (Facebook). One or more outcomes such as the positive correlation, negative or no correlations will be anticipated as a result of the use of the correlational study.
The researcher does not intend to use any other social networking tool so as to control for the random effect. In case, the experimental group will not demonstrate statistically significant differences or interdependencies during the hypothesis testing, it would make us reject the primary hypothesis in favor of an alternative one that there is no impact of social media on face-to-face communication for both experimental and control groups. In order to control for the study, the control group will be exposed to a neutral situation that does not reinforce face-to-face communication behaviors and social interaction skills. Participants in the control group will be asked to write about the given topics. There will be no correct or wrong points in what they will write. Except for the medium of communication, all other factors will be held constant. It will help to keep the random effects under control increasing the chances to get the valid results, which would help to either accept the hypothesis or reject it altogether. Another point helping to control for apparent effects will include such factors as the sufficient amount of time given to accomplish the task, and time of the day when the experiment will be conducted. It is expected that the study will be conducted at the same time, and that the duration should not take longer than 30 minutes.
Research Variables
In the proposed study, there will be one independent variable with two levels and two dependent variables. The independent variable will be the medium of communication. The dependent variable will be categorized into two levels: face-to-face communication and social networking tool (Facebook). The dependent variables are represented by the face-to-face communication behaviors and social interaction skills. The two dependent variables will be measured at an ordinal level using validated tools.
Materials
The first dependent variable in the proposed study, face-to-face communication behaviors, will be measured using a validated tool called Conversational Skills Rating Scale (Spitzberg & Adams, 2007). Conversational Skills Rating Scale (Appendix A), is a 25-item tool that is designed to measure non-verbal social skills or interpersonal skills. The behaviors assessed through this tool include attentiveness, composure, expressiveness, and coordination. The items are rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Inadequate) to 5 (Excellent). The tool has an acceptable internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha, reported at above .85. The participants will be asked to refer to past conversations in general while responding to the items of the questionnaire (Spitzberg & Adams, 2007).
The second dependent variable, social interaction skills, will be measured using the Social Skills Inventory (Appendix B). This is a self-description measure that is used to measure an individual’s strengths and weaknesses in verbal and non-verbal communication skills (Riggio, 1986). The tool is made up of 90 items that are rated on a five-point Likert Scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. The tool has an acceptable reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = .84). The scale is divided into 6 subscales: emotional expressivity, emotional sensitivity, emotional control, social expressivity, social sensitivity, and social control. The internal consistencies of all the subscales are acceptable. The Cronbach’s alphas derived from a study sample of 149 undergraduate students ranged from .75 to .88 .
Procedure
Participants will be informed that the aim of the study is to investigate the effect of the medium of communication on performance in discussions. To justify the pre-exposure and post-exposure use of the communication behaviors and social skills questionnaires and strengthen the cover story, participants will be informed that information on their social skills and general communication skills will be collected at certain points because previous research has found that they might affect memory. This kind of cover story has been used by Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, & Halliwell, 2015), in their recent study on the effect of Facebook on mood and concerns about body image. After signing the informed consent form, participants will complete the pre-intervention survey. Next, participants will engage in their discussion activity through the assigned medium of communication. Participants will be informed that they could say whatever they feel about the topics. After completing the discussion, participants will complete post-exposure measures for communications and social skills. After the study, participants we debriefed.
Analysis Plan
Data for the proposed study will be analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 23 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). Descriptive information about the participants’ gender and age will be provided. For age, measures of central tendency such as mean, median, and mode will be obtained. In addition, standard deviation, the range, the minimum, and the maximum age will be reported. Data will be screened to assess whether the assumption of normality was violated. Assuming that the normality assumption is not substantially violated in the two variables, an independent-samples t-test will be done to test the study hypotheses. The use of independent-samples t-test will allow the researcher to determine if the means of the scores for communication behaviors and social interaction skills differed significantly on the basis of mode of communication the participants were assigned to.
Ethics and Human Subjects Issues
Finally, participants will be told exactly how the results are drawn from the study will be used to further better face-to-face communication practices in the US. Other ethical measures that will be taken include ensuring that confidential information is safeguarded. This, therefore, means that the confidential information of all participants will not be leaked to a third party without their consent. The information will be stored in a password-protected computer, with only the researcher and the supervisor having access. The data will be destroyed according to university policy.
Anticipated results.
In order to confirm the hypotheses, the expected results should go in line with the findings that the social media networking has a negative impact on the quality of communication. This knowledge should be consistent for all researched variables. It means that the concept of communication technologies improving the face-to-face communication and social interaction skills should fail despite the common knowledge that a modern technology becoming the indispensable part of life quality eliminates the communication barriers between the random people. It is obvious that after some significant technological penetration level, the advancements as the Internet and social media networking have an ever-increasing effect on the social medium. In this paper, the digital and on-line communication resources should definitely have certain utility constraints in order to stop the negative impact on the face-to-face communication and social interaction skills otherwise we would have to reject the null hypotheses in favor of the alternative one stating that social media networking is beneficial for the real communication. Additionally, it makes sense to include the limitation variables in the proposed testing model concerning the peculiarities of the individual behavior patterns of the respondents (self-esteem, social capital, isolation, personal motivation, etc.). This way the anticipated results will present a more meticulous analysis of the research phenomena considering the personal characteristics of the sample group.
Further, In case these hypotheses are confirmed, it will demonstrate the existence of a statistically significant causal relationship between the social media networking and face-to-face communication/social interaction skills. However, in case the null hypotheses are rejected, it will be necessary to adopt alternative hypotheses explaining the researched phenomena. The absence of statistically significant relations means that the current study will not correspond the major findings presented in the literature review section. This controversy will have to be explained by further analysis.
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Appendices
Appendix A
CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS RATING SCALE (Rating of Self Form)
Gender:
Age:
Rate how skillfully YOU used, or didn’t use, the following communicative behaviors in any conversation, where:
1= INADEQUATE (use is awkward, disruptive, or results in a negative impression of communicative skills)
2= FAIR (occasionally awkward or disruptive, occasionally adequate)
3= ADEQUATE (sufficient but neither noticeable nor excellent. Produces neither strong positive nor negative impression)
4= GOOD (use was better than adequate but not outstanding)
5= EXCELLENT (use is smooth, controlled, results in positive impression of communicative skills)
For the next five items, rate your overall performance. I was a (n)
Appendix B
NOTE: Letter “R” shows that the item should be scored in reverse. The items are grouped as per the subdomains they measure. The number for each item as it appears in the Social Skills Scale is given.
Emotional Expressivity (EE)
1. It is difficult for others to know when I am sad or depressed R
7. I talk faster than most people
13. When depressed, I tend to make those around me depressed also
19. I have been told that I have expressive eyes
25. I usually feel uncomfortable touching other people R
31. I often laugh out loud
37. Sometimes I have trouble making my friends and family realize just how angry or upset I am with them R
43. My facial expression is generally neutral R
49. I rarely show my anger R
55. I often touch my friends when talking to them.
61. I am able to liven up a dull party
67. I dislike being the center of attention R
73. I rarely show my feelings or emotions R
79. Friends have sometimes told me that I talk too much
85. I never shout or scream when angry R
Emotional Sensitivity (ES)
2. When people are speaking, I spend as much time watching their movements as I do listening to them
8. Few people are as sensitive and understanding as I am
14. At parties, I can immediately tell when someone is interested in me
20. I am interested in knowing what makes people tick
26. I can easily tell what a person’s character is by watching his or her interactions with others.
32. I always seem to know what peoples’ true feelings are no matter how hard they try to conceal them
38. I can accurately tell what a person’s character is upon first meeting him or her
44. One of my greatest pleasures in life is being with other people.
50. I can instantly spot a “phony” the minute I meet him or her.
56. I dislike it when other people tell me their problems. R
62. I sometimes cry at sad movies.
68. I am easily able to give a comforting hug or touch someone who is distressed
74. I can spend hours just watching other people
80. I am often told that I am a sensitive, understanding person
86. When my friends are angry or upset, they seek me out to help calm them down.
Emotional Control (EC)
3. People can always tell when I dislike
them, no matter how hard I try to hide my feelings R
9. It is often hard for me to keep a “straight face” when telling a joke or humorous story R
15. People can always tell when I am embarrassed by the expression on my face. R
21. I am not very skilled in controlling my emotions R
27. I am able to conceal my true feelings from just about anyone
33. I can keep a straight face even when friends try to make me laugh or smile
39. It is very hard for me to control my emotions R
45. I am very good at maintaining a calm exterior even if I am upset
51. I usually adapt my ideas and behavior to the group I happen to be with at the time
57. While I may be nervous on the inside, I can disguise it very well from others
63. I can make myself look as if I’m having a good time at a social function even if I’m not really enjoying myself at all
69. I am rarely able to hide a strong emotion. R
75. I can easily pretend to be mad even when I am really feeling happy
81. People can always “read” my feelings even when I am trying to hide them. R
87. I am easily able to make myself look happy one minute and sad the next.
Social Expressivity
4. I enjoy giving parties
10. It takes people quite a while to get to know me well R
16. I love to socialize
22. I prefer jobs that require working with a large number of people
28. I always mingle at parties
34. I usually take the initiative to introduce myself to strangers
40. I am usually the one to initiate conversations
46. When telling a story, I usually use a lot of gestures to help get the point across.
52. When in discussions, I find myself doing a large share of the talking.
58. At parties, I enjoy talking to a lot of different people.
64. I consider myself a loner. R
70. I enjoy going to large parties and meeting new people.
76. I am unlikely to speak to strangers until speak to me. R
82. I tend to be the “life of the party”
88. I could talk for hours on just about any subject.
Social Sensitivity
5. Criticism of scolding rarely makes me feel uncomfortable. R
11. My greatest source of pleasure and pain is other people
17. I would much rather take part in a political discussion than to observe and analyze what the participants are saying R
23. I am greatly influenced by the moods of those around me.
29. There are certain situations in which I find myself worrying about whether I am doing or saying the right things
35. Sometimes I think that I take things other people say to me too personally
41. What others think about my actions is of little or no consequence to me. R
47. I often worry that people will misinterpret something I have said to them
53. While growing up, my parents were always stressing the importance of good manners.
59. I can be strongly affected by someone smiling or frowning at me.
65. I am very sensitive to criticism.
71. It is very important that other people like me
77. I get nervous if I think someone is watching me.
83. I’m generally concerned about the impression I’m making on others
89. I am often concerned with what others are thinking of me
Social Control
6. I can be comfortable with all types if people—young and old, rich and poor.
12. When I’m with a group of friends, I am often the spokesperson for the group.
18. Sometimes I find it difficult to look at others when I am talking about something personal. R
24.I am not good at making prepared speeches. R
30. I find it very difficult to speak in front of a large group of people R
36. When in a group of people, I have trouble thinking of the right things to talk about. R
42. I am usually very good at leading group discussions
48. I am often uncomfortable around people whose social class is different from mine R
54. I am not very good at mixing at parties. R
60. I would feel out of place at a party attended by a lot of very important people. R
66. Occasionally I’ve noticed that people from different backgrounds seem to feel uncomfortable around me. R
72. I sometimes say the wrong thing when starting a conversation with a stranger. R
78. I am often chosen to be the leader of a group
84. I often find myself in awkward social situations. R
90. I can easily adjust to being in just about any social situation.
