[1] Social competence is the foundation upon which expectations for future interaction with others are built and perceptions of an individual's own behavior are developed.
In the 1950s and 1960s, research established that children's social competence was related to future mental health (such as maladaptive outcomes in adulthood), as well as problems in school settings.
These models focused on factors such as behavior, the way people perceive and evaluate each other, and the processing of social cues.
[8] Commentators on some online incel communities have advocated government programs wherein socially awkward men are helped or women are incentivized to go on dates with them.
[12] These models also allow for the organization and integration of the various component skills, behaviors, and cognitions associated with social competence.
Other models focus on the often overlooked distinction between social competence and the indices (i.e., skills and abilities) used to gauge it.
Goldfried and D'Zurilla[12] developed a five-step behavioral-analytic model outlining a definition of social competence.
[13] The social information-processing model focuses more directly on the cognitive processes underlying response selection, enactment, and evaluation.
The tri-component model is useful for doctors and researchers looking to change, predict, or elaborate social functioning of children.
Mary Rothbart holds the most influential model of temperament due to the two main focuses on regulation and reactivity.
[18] Effort control is the main idea behind temperament regulation because the skills it requires are involved in integrating information, planning, and emotion modulation and behavior.
Attachment helps the infant learn that the world is predictable and trustworthy or, in other instances, capricious and cruel.
Parenting style contributes to child well-being in the domains of social competence, academic performance, psychosocial development, and problem behavior.
Thus, current intervention efforts tend to target social competence both directly and indirectly in different contexts.
[citation needed] Early childhood interventions targeting social skills directly improve the peer relations of children.
These interventions focus on at-risk groups such as single, adolescent mothers and families of children with early behavior problems.
Interventions improve children's social competence and interactions with peers in the short term and they also reduce long-term risks, such as substance abuse or delinquent behavior.
Social competence becomes more complicated as children grow older, and most intervention efforts for this age group target individual skills, the family, and the classroom setting.
Results of social competence interventions include decreased aggression, improved self-control, and increased conflict resolution skills.
[27] At the conclusion of the study, evidence shows that participating children began to evolve their metacognitive skills such as feelings and behaviors.