University Students’ Self-Rated Ability to Interpret Social Context and Correlating Factors

Abstract

Negative self-assessment of one’s ability to interpret social context has been linked to psychological distress, manifesting as anxiety and depression. Few studies, however, have examined what individual skills and traits are present in those who score highly in self-assessments of their ability to interpret social context. Because Japanese culture places a high value on the collective good and one’s ability to adapt one’s behavior to a situation, this study also added the variable of the collective good to better understand factors associated with positive self-assessments of contextual awareness. This study was conducted at two universities, involving 603 students, and used self-completed anonymous questionnaires as well as a Revised Self-Monitoring scale, a Yamaguchi’s Collectivism Scale, and self-rated ability to interpret social context while attending a class. The results and implications of this study include the finding that self-monitoring skills may be acquired, rather than viewed as innate traits, which could allow individuals to work toward better social adjustment through developing improved contextual awareness skills.