Social Skills and Students’ Behavior: A Study of Secondary School Students’ Practices

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate social skills development in students’ behavior at Secondary Level. All the 10th grade students studying in government schools of the Punjab province were the population of the study. Sampling was carried out through multi-stage sampling. Total 1723 students studying in 10th grade in all the selected schools responded regarding their social skills practices. A scale for measurement of students’ social skills (MOSS) consisting of 27 items regarding social skills was used. The validity of the research tool was ensured through expert opinion about the relevant construct. After validation the MOSS was pilot tested and confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to determine the construct and convergent validity of the scale (MOSS). To determine the reliability of the MOSS scale Cronbach's alpha was applied. The data collected through the scale (MOSS) were analyzed by applying frequency distribution, percentage, mean, independent sample t-test and One-way ANOVA through SPSS. The results revealed that the majority of secondary school students had communication, decision making, cooperation, interpersonal relationship, empathy and critical thinking skills at moderate level and creative thinking skill at low level in their behavior.