This investigation addressed the relationship between social competence and overall success in the competitive work place. Supervisors and co-workers of 98 persons with mental retardation rated subjects' overall job performance and social interaction with the respondents (the dependent variables) and subjects' performance in 27 specific social situations (independent variables). A principal components analysis of the independent variables yielded two correlated factors labeled “polite social interaction” and “task completion”. Used as predictor variables in multiple regression analyses, the factor scores explained between 49% and 64% of the variance in supervisor and co-worker ratings of overall quality of work, but were able to account for only 9% of the variance in co-worker ratings of social interaction during break. The results suggest that task-related and non-task related social skills make unique and relatively equal contributions to supervisors' and co-workers' perceptions of a worker's competence. The results were less successful at predicting social interaction, suggesting that variables other than social competence may be more critical in establishing social integration in the work place.
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