Social Facilitation, Psychology of Cultural Dimensions

Action, Theories of Social

Frank Kalter, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), 2015

Abstract

Social action is a key concept in sociology, and the development of adequate theories that can explain it is a central task. The social sciences suggest very different models of individual behavior without agreeing on a best solution. To understand the controversies and to sketch fruitful pathways, it is helpful to examine the specific role of social action theories within the more general sociological enterprise in more detail and to derive central quality criteria. Against the background of these criteria, a review of influential, traditional ‘models of man’ reveals the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Major questions are how to deal with this variety of models and how to progress on the front of social action theories.

Assessment of Social Skills in Children and Adolescents

FRANK M. GRESHAM, in Handbook of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2001
School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS)
The SSBS (Merrell, 1993) is a 65-item teacher rating scale designed to measure two broad domains of social behavior: (a) social competence, and (b) antisocial behavior. The SSBS was standardized on a sample of 1858 children and adolescents in grades K–12. Although the four geographic regions of the United States were included in the standardization sample, it was not geographically representative of the U.S. population, with about 40 percent of the sample coming from the states of Oregon and Washington. It is not clear how (if at all) this might affect social skills ratings of children and adolescents.
Each item of the SSBS is rated on a 5-point Likert scale reflecting the relative frequency of the social behavior (“1—Never” to “5—Frequently”). Table 11.4 shows that the Social Competence Scale has 32 items distributed across three subscales and the Antisocial Behavior Scale has 33 items distributed across three subscales. The Total Social Competence and Total Antisocial Behavior Scores on the SSBS are expressed as a standard score (M = 100, SD = 15) and as percentile ranks.
The SSBS has adequate psychometric properties with internal consistency reliabilities ranging from .91 to .98 and test-retest reliabilities (3 weeks) ranging from .72 to .83 for the Social Competence Scale and .53 to .71 for the Antisocial Behavior Scale. The manual also presents a large number of studies demonstrating the criterion-related and construct validity of the scale. As Demaray et al. (1995) point out, the SSBS has adequate to excellent reliability; has sufficient evidence for content, construct, and discriminant validity; and is user-friendly due to its detailed technical manual.