The social competence of university and older students

Abstract

We find ourselves in the era of information technology and virtual communication. For this reason, it is more necessary than ever to implement educational resources based on social competence if we want that the invasion of machines won’t impose their rules over society in the twenty-first century, namely: productivity, moral indifference, emptying of feelings and emotions, etc. The present study aims to explore the social competence of young and old persons which regularly use technologies. The sample consisted in a group of 30 young university students and 38 older persons participating in introductory computer courses. The evaluation tool was a Social Abilities Questionnaire with which it is measured both the self-evaluation of the own’s social competence and the evaluation of peers. Results, in general terms, show more similitudes than differences between young and older persons: 1. Coincidence in the higher self-evaluated ability (give thanks). 2. The valuation of the own social competence is higher than that of the peers.