Direct and Indirect Predictors of Social Competence in United States Army Junior Commissioned Officers
Abstract
Social competence is a critically important attribute for Army officers. An officer s social competence helps determine his or her ability to foster unit cohesion, mentor Soldiers, work effectively with individuals ranging widely in personality and work style, lead effectively when deployed to foreign countries, and handle new roles and assignments. The purpose of this research was to enhance understanding of what makes an officer socially competent. To that end, we formulated and tested a theory of the direct and indirect antecedents of social performance. Our key hypothesis, mediation of the social intelligence-social performance relationship by social knowledge, was supported for three out of five social performance dimensions. Another key finding was that a video-based social knowledge measure with a constructed response format, developed specifically for this project, showed substantial criterion-related validities with the same three social performance dimensions, and appears to be a viable means of measuring social knowledge.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA454551
Entities
People
- Jeff W. Johnson
- Robert J. Schneider