Causal Relationships between Perceived Social Skills and Day-To-Day Social Interaction: Extending the Sociometer Hypothesis

Abstract

Twice over two years, participants described their day-to-day social interactions for two weeks, and they described their social skills. Within each phase of the study, self-perceived social skills and the quality of social interaction were positively related. Moreover, the results of cross-lagged panel analyses suggested that changes in the quality of day-to-day interaction led to changes in perceived social skills, whereas changes in social skills did not lead to changes in the quality of interaction. In contrast, quantity of interaction and social skills were not related either within or across time. Consistent with some aspects of the sociometer hypothesis, improvements in the quality of people's social interactions led to increases in self-perceived social skills, and declines in the quality of social interactions led to decreases in self-perceived social skills.