Describes a high school teacher's initial frustration with a home economics class's unresponsive attitude concerning a cooperative vocabulary exercise. After emphasizing one social skill (encouraging) instead of two, and using modeling and "dry run" practices, this teacher began observing more encouraging student behavior. (MLH)

Managers have been conceptually deskilled, including social skills. Definitions of social skill are formulated by the administrative and social sciences, often in response to organizational problems. Thus, the management process is shaped by the current managerial ideologies embraced by organizational leaders. (Author/CH)

Discusses the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. Cites examples of very smart people who were fired because they did not read situations correctly or made job-losing mistakes. (JOW)

Offers advice on how to develop good interpersonal skills and good relationships with others. (SR)

Technical education curricula should include the topical area of customer relations. Students need to learn how to listen to customers, handle complaints, monitor quality, and understand customer satisfaction. (SK)

In a sample of 285 (of 1,363) corporations, reports of supervisor reaction to supervisory training were assessed to measure program success. Results highlight the importance of training administrators' role in convincing supervisors and their superiors of the value of training before implementation. (SK)

Conflict resolution theory suggests that the constructive, prosocial, integrative style is best for resolving interpersonal conflict, because it not only solves the problem but also enriches the interpersonal relationship. Effective interpersonal communication is the critical element of this integrative process. Counselors could prepare people to…

Investigated relationship between temperament and self-esteem (or social competence). Administered Dimensions of Temperament Scale and Short Form of Texas Social Behavior Inventory to 186 college students. Found that Adaptability, Attention/Distractibility, and Reactivity all showed significant correlations with self-esteem. Suggests that…

Identified how 20 preschool children attempted to exert dominance over peers. Found that verbal assertiveness was the most frequently employed, though least successful, dominance strategy. Physical assertiveness was successful when a child exhibited athletic superiority. The use of theme plays was the most successful strategy in eliciting a…

Leadership has been so overemphasized that good followers can feel inadequate and unappreciated. One negative effect has been increased competition among school personnel, caused by evaluation systems that reward achievement and performance but neglect teamwork, interpersonal skills, and collegiality. Leaders can learn much from good followers,…

Conducted meta-analytic review of 27 studies on social skills training with schizophrenics, addressing magnitude of treatment effects relative to outcome measures, extent of generalization and maintenance of treatment effects, and impact of diagnostic clarity and training variations. Found that social skills training had strong, positive impact on…

Results of a questionnaire sent to human resource personnel (n=76) suggest that much of the interpersonal communication that occurs in business will be in the form of informal small group settings and that business educators should emphasize the communication processes that occur in those settings and provide a variety of experiential exercises…

Notes that good communications skills are becoming a requirement for almost any job and that corporate leaders and human resources managers are realizing the importance of strong interpersonal communication skills to the performance of all employees not just those in supervisory and managerial positions. Discusses a variety of interpersonal…

Inspired by Niccolo Machiavelli, this column offers beleaguered school executives advice on looking good, dressing well, losing weight, beating the proper enemy, and saying nothing. Administrators who follow these simple rules should have an easier life, jealous colleagues, well-tended gardens, and respectful board members. (MLH)

Conducted interviews with 57 adults concerning their interactions with others who were bereaved. When respondent and other person were bereaved by same loss, support relationships were more likely to be difficult. In potential support situations where interviewees were not also mourners, those who held back generally had not experienced death of…