Background
Interpersonal competence skill, the way we perceive and grasp the behaviors of others, as well as modify our behavior to the circumstances at hand, contributes to various aspects of a student's life. More importantly, it is perceived to increase the sense of self-worth of the individual as well as overall happiness and subjective well-being.
Methods
A descriptive research design was adopted, wherein 80 students from five different boarding centers in Bengaluru, India, were drawn through a random sampling technique. Apart from the sociodemographic details, structured scales like self-esteem scale, interpersonal competence scale, and well-being scale were used to collect the data.
Results
The majority (45%) of the students (undergraduate/postgraduate) were in the age group of 23 years and above. A majority (77.2%) of respondents' annual family income was less than â 11000. Overall, 52.5% of them belonged to nuclear families and 68% of the respondent's family's occupation was agriculture. Aggression was found to be high among joint family students (F= 3.409, P <0.05), the academic domain was found to be better among extended family students (F= 3.282, P <0.05), and overall interpersonal competence skills were found to be greater (F= 6.099, P <0.05) among joint family students. Self-esteem was found better among undergraduate students when compared with postgraduate students.
Conclusions
Findings have indicated that psychosocial intervention at educational institutions has to be initiated by counselors, social workers, and other mental health professionals.