ASSESSMENT OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS ACROSS THE LIFE-SPAN

Interpersonal competence is focused in such concepts as empathy, altruism and collaboration; social competence in success and social prestige. We examine theories and data corresponding to interpersonal competence: (i) the study of interpersonal skills as part of social intelligence, stressing solution dimensions for interpersonal problems; (ii) coping and strategic skills directed to the interpersonal world and (iii) the study of sayings and proverbs as a sample of popular wisdom. These three domains have been operationalized and we show data on instrument validity and discuss possible developments.