Social intelligence facts for kids

Social intelligence is about understanding yourself and the people around you. It's a skill you learn and improve by interacting with others. You learn from what goes well and what doesn't in social situations. It's also known as "tact" or "common sense", or "street smarts". This important skill helps people do well in all parts of their lives.

What is Social Intelligence?

Many experts have tried to define social intelligence. Neuropsychologist Nicholas Humphrey believes that this type of intelligence is what makes us human.

The first definition came from Edward Thorndike in 1920. He said it was "the ability to understand and manage men and women and boys and girls, to act wisely in human relations". This is similar to interpersonal intelligence, which is one of the types of intelligence in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. It's also connected to the theory of mind, which is about understanding what others are thinking.

In 1987, Nancy Cantor and John F. Kihlstrom defined it as "the individual's fund of knowledge about the social world." More recently, in 2006, Professor Eleni Andreou said social intelligence is like having "social skills and competence".

While social intelligence and interpersonal intelligence were once thought to be very similar, they are now studied as two different areas.

Some people define social intelligence more narrowly. They see it as just knowing about social situations. This is sometimes called social cognition. Sean Foleno says social intelligence is a person's ability to understand their environment well and act in a way that leads to social success.

Because there are so many definitions, experts still don't fully agree on one exact meaning for social intelligence.

Why Our Brains Grew: The Social Intelligence Idea

The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that complex social interactions helped our brains grow bigger. Things like politics, friendships, family life, arguments, working together, and helping others were important.

• This idea says that living together drove the growth of human brains.
• It also explains our ability to use these large brains in complicated social situations today.

This hypothesis claims that the challenges of living in groups made us more intelligent. It suggests that social intelligence is an evolutionary adaptation. This means it's a skill that developed over time to help us deal with complex social situations. It also helped us gain and keep power within social groups.

Archaeologist Steve Mithen points to two main times when human brains grew a lot. The first was about two million years ago, when the brain more than doubled in size. Mithen thinks this happened because people were living in larger, more complex groups. They needed to remember more people and relationships. This required more brain power, leading to bigger brains.

The second big growth period was between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago. During this time, the brain reached its modern size. While we don't fully understand why, Mithen believes it's linked to the development of language. Language is one of the most complex things our brains do. It's directly related to social intelligence because we mainly use language to manage our social relationships.

So, social intelligence was a key reason for brain growth. Social skills and brain complexity developed together.

Measuring Social Intelligence (SQ)

The social intelligence quotient (SQ) is a way to measure social intelligence. It's like the IQ test, with an average score of 100. Scores of 140 or higher are considered very high. But unlike IQ, SQ is not seen as fixed. It's more like Jean Piaget's idea that intelligence can change. It's about how well a person adapts to their environment. This means you can change your SQ by changing your attitudes and behavior in social situations.

Until recently, SQ was often measured by asking questions. These sessions checked a person's pragmatic skills. Pragmatic skills are about how we use language in social situations. Some tests have been created to measure social intelligence. These tests can help diagnose autism spectrum disorders. They can also check for conditions like semantic pragmatic disorder (SPD), schizophrenia, dyssemia, and ADHD.

Some social intelligence tests are "self-report." This means people answer questions about themselves. These tests are easy to use. However, some wonder if they really measure social intelligence. They might instead measure social self-efficacy. This is a person's confidence in their ability to handle social information.

People with low SQ might find it hard to talk with customers or co-workers. They often do best in jobs with little customer contact, in smaller groups, or working alone. People with SQs over 120 are considered socially skilled. They often do very well in jobs that involve a lot of direct contact and communication with others.

George Washington University Social Intelligence Test: This is one of the few tests that measures social intelligence as an ability. Dr. Thelma Hunt, a psychologist, created it in 1928. It was designed to measure how well a person could deal with people and social relationships. The test looks at different social skills. These include observing human behavior, judging social situations, remembering names and faces, and understanding theory of mind from facial expressions. The updated version of the test includes:

• Observing human behavior
• Recognizing what a speaker means
• Remembering names and faces
• Making good judgments in social situations
• Having a sense of humor

How is it Different from Other Intelligence?

Nicholas Humphrey points out a difference between intelligence measured by IQ tests and social intelligence. Some children with autism are very intelligent. They are good at observing and memorizing information. However, they may have low social intelligence. For a long time, experts focused only on observing behavior. But newer ideas suggest we must also consider what's happening inside a person's mind.

Social Intelligence in the Digital Age

Some experts believe social intelligence has declined in the digital age. Before, people would talk to others in line or on the train. Now, they often look at their smartphones. Since social intelligence is learned and needs practice, experts worry that more digital communication will harm these skills.

Other Ideas About Social Intelligence

Social intelligence is closely linked to cognition (thinking) and emotional intelligence (understanding feelings).

Researchers studying social cognition and social neuroscience have found many ways human social intelligence works. Early on, psychologists Nancy Cantor and John Kihlstrom looked at how people understand social relationships. They studied concepts like "What situation am I in?" or "What kind of person is this?" They also looked at the rules people use to figure things out, like "What did he mean by that?" and plan actions, like "What am I going to do about it?"

More recently, writer Daniel Goleman has used social neuroscience research. He suggests that social intelligence has two parts: social awareness and social facility. Social awareness includes empathy (understanding others' feelings) and social cognition (thinking about social situations). Social facility includes things like working well with others and self-presentation (how you show yourself). Goleman's research shows that our social relationships directly affect our physical health. Stronger relationships have a bigger impact. Effects can include changes in blood flow, breathing, mood (like feeling tired or sad), and even weakening of the immune system.

Researcher Raymond H. Hartjen believes that more social interactions make intelligence stronger. This means children need many chances to interact with others to develop good "inter-personal psychology." Traditional classrooms often don't allow for complex social behavior. Instead, students are mainly taught facts. The way schools are set up today allows very few of these important social skills to develop. Because we limit these skills, students may enter the job market unprepared. In contrast, students who have learned in multi-age classrooms or democratic settings often do better. They have a good sense of who they are, know what they want, and have the skills to start working towards their goals.

J. P. Guilford was the first researcher to try measuring social intelligence. He developed a test and suggested that social intelligence is a separate skill. It doesn't depend on general intelligence but is related to understanding how people behave.

See also

In Spanish: Inteligencia interpersonal para niños