Adapting to social context. | Anticipating reactions. |
Asking questions to understand the opinions and perspectives of others. | Awareness of biases. |
Awareness of different worldviews. | Awareness of disadvantage. |
Awareness of discrimination. | Awareness of norms. |
Awareness of social context. | Awareness of the rules of civility (e.g. remaining respectful in debate and disagreement). |
Compassion for others. | Comprehension of nuanced meaning. |
Considering how your behavior or words affect others. | Considering perspectives. |
Cultural competence | Expressions of empathy. |
Expressions of sympathy. | Identifying devil's advocate -- when someone is saying something just for the purpose of argument. |
Identifying similarities and common interests (avoiding us vs them thinking). | Identifying the contributions of others. |
Identifying underlying emotion and intentions that may differ from what someone is saying. | Knowing how to influence others. |
Knowledge and appreciation of culture. | Knowledge and appreciation of language. |
Knowledge and appreciation of social groups. | Knowledge of history. |
Knowledge of social convention and sensibilities. | Not making assumptions about people based on how they look or their background. |
Not reading too much into things -- not imagining emotions, meaning and intent that doesn't exist. | Not taking things too seriously (e.g. ability to enjoy humor). |
Noticing when you are being sidelined. | Perceiving social status. |
Predicting perspectives in different situations (e.g. how one person is likely to feel about a topic). | Reading emotion |
Reading how people feel about others. | Reading how people feel about you. |
Reading intent | Reading social cues |
Reading the strengths & weaknesses of others. | Recognition of differences. |
Self-awareness | The ability to be respectful and polite. |
Tolerance for differences. | Understanding community perspectives (e.g. the likelihood that someone is loyal to their hometown). |
Understanding cultural perspectives. | Understanding different points of view. |
Understanding historical perspectives -- avoiding presentism. | Understanding how you are perceived by others. |
Understanding political perspectives (e.g. conservative vs progressive viewpoints). | Understanding social perspectives (e.g. perspectives based on socioeconomic background). |
Understanding the social needs of others. | Understanding wit and humor. |
Counterexamples
Assuming that people are all the same.Not getting the humor and nuance of things such that you come across as a bore.
Being biased against anyone who isn't "like you."
Taking people literally without reading the emotion and intent behind their words.
Not noticing when you are being sidelined.
Not noticing how others feel about you.
Making assumptions about others that aren't accurate.
Reading too much into things by imagining that you can read other people's thoughts.
Violating a social norm without realizing it.
Inability to communicate effectively / make a good impression with people from different backgrounds from yourself.
Summary
Social awareness is the ability to read social situations and to monitor them in real time as they unfold. This includes the ability to see how you're being received by others.
Accepting Differences | Recognizing that others have different views, priorities, opinions, attitudes and views that aren't easily changed. |
Cultural Awareness | Knowledge of culture and awareness of how this might be shaping perspectives. |
Intuitive Understanding | An instant grasp of social situations. |
Observational Skills | Attunement to how others might be thinking and feeling. |
Perspective-Taking | The ability to consider things from the perspective of others. |
Reading People | Trying to read the emotions and thoughts of another person. |
Reading the Room | Trying to read social situations and the atmosphere of groups. |
Recognizing Humor | Having a good sense of humor and not letting jokes fly over your head. |
Self-Awareness | Awareness of how you are communicating and behaving and how that might be perceived by others. |
Social Atmosphere | The general mood of groups at a point in time. |
Social Context | The context of a social situation such as a formal or informal situation. |
Social Cues | Reading hints from others that convey social or emotional information. |
Social Dynamics | The complexity of social situations and the interplay between different people in a group. |
Social Reflection | Thinking back and reflecting on social situations to learn from them. |
Social Status | Social status is the respect that individuals command in a social situation. |
Notes
While it is important to try to perceive how others might be thinking it is also important to recognize that you don't really know. It's generally not reasonable to accuse others of thinking things or to try to police the thoughts of others.| Overview: Social Awareness | ||
Type | ||
Definition | The ability to perceive and handle real world social environments and situations in a productive and positive way. | |
Related Concepts | ||
