Social intelligence

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Social intelligence according to the original definition of Edward Thorndike, is "the ability to understand and manage men and women, boys and girls -- to act wisely in human relations" ^[1]. It is equivalent to interpersonal intelligence, one of the types of intelligences identified in Howard Gardner's Theory of multiple intelligences, and closely related to Emotional intelligence. Some authors have restricted the definition to deal only with knowledge of social situations, perhaps more properly called social cognition.

1 Scientific studies
2 Measuring social intelligence
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Scientific studies

There are various types of intelligence. As society became more complex, intellectual competences became more sophisticated. This competence is social intelligence and can be defined as the intelligence that lies behind group interactions and behaviours.

This type of intelligence is closely related to cognition and emotional intelligence, and can also be seen as a first level in developing systems intelligence. One specific interest in studying social intelligence is in applying it to robotic systems and artificial animals (commonly known as 'animats' and 'agents'). The discipline of social intelligence enhances the field of artificial intelligence with a variety of theories from system theory, adaptive systems, simulation, game theory, biologically inspired algorithms, software agents, etc. Application examples of social intelligence are social robots, the swarm intelligence paradigm, action selection and the foraging procedure.

Research psychologists studying social cognition and social neuroscience have discovered many principles which human social intelligence operates. In early work on this topic, psychologists Nancy Cantor and John Kihlstrom outlined the kinds of concepts people use to make sense of their social relations (e.g., “What situation am I in and what kind of person is this who is talking to me?”), and the rules they use to draw inferences (“What did he mean by that?”) and plan actions (“What am I going to do about it?”)

In 2005, business writer Karl Albrecht proposed a five-part model of social intelligence in his book Social Intelligence: the New Science of Success, presented with the acronym "S.P.A.C.E." - 1) Situational Awareness, 2) Presence, 3) Authenticity, 4) Clarity, and 5) Empathy.

More recently, popular science writer Daniel Goleman has drawn on social neuroscience research to propose that social intelligence is made up of Social Awareness (including empathy, attunement, empathic accuracy, and social cognition) and Social Facility (including synchrony, self-presentation, influence, and concern).

Psychotherapy often involves helping people to modify their patterns of social intelligence, particularly those that cause them problems in their interpersonal relations. Some efforts are also underway to use computer-based interventions to help people develop their own social intelligence. Paul Ekman, for example, has created the MicroExpression Training Tool, to allow people to practice identifying the brief emotional expressions that flit across people’s faces. The website MindHabits.com offers a research-based software program with which people learn to modify their mind habits, focusing attention on positive social feedback and inhibiting attention to the social threats and rejections that can cause stress. Other interventions, for example to help autistic individuals develop social perception and interaction skills, are also in development.

[edit] Measuring social intelligence

Social IQ is a measure of social intelligence compared to other people of their age. Like IQ, Social IQ is based on the "100 point" scale, in which 100 is the average score. Scores of 140 or above are considered to be very high.

Social IQ has until recently been measured by techniques such as question and answer sessions. These sessions assess the person's pragmatic abilities to test eligibility in certain special education courses, however some tests have been developed to measure social intelligence. One of these is the EQ Test, which stands for Emotional Intelligence. This test is often useful in diagnosing autism spectrum disorders, including autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Other, non-autistic or semi-autistic conditions such as Semantic Pragmatic Disorder or SPD, Schizophrenia, dyssemia and ADHD, are also of relevance. People with low social IQ will be considered "child like" and immature, even at the adult age group. This test could also be used to assess people that might have some sort of a personality disorder such as Schizophrenia or ADHD.

A good way to measure Social IQ is to use the basic IQ system, adapted for social skills. Most people have social IQ's from 85-115, but many exceed these limits. People with social IQ's below 80 may show symptoms of autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome and have trouble with making friends, and with communication, and might need some social skill training or extra support from specialists. People with social IQ's over 120 are considered very socially skilled and well adjusted and will work well with very social jobs such as social work, education, and law enforcement.

The following example chart shows (assuming a person aged 12 is being tested, with an average social IQ of 100 for that age) how a person's social age can be higher or lower based on scores in the social IQ test.:

Social IQ	Social Age
120 (above average - socially mature for age)	14.4
110	13.2
100 (average)	12
90	10.8
80	9.6
70 (below this level, help is recommended)	8.4
60	7.2
50	6
40	4.8
30	3.6
20	2