Comparison of social intelligence among adolescents with visual impairment regarding varying demographic factors

Abstract

Social intelligence (SI) helps the visually impaired adolescents (VIAs) to adjust in social environment by maintaining healthy interpersonal relationship. The purpose of the study was to explore differences in SI of VIAs and varying demographic factors. For this purpose, sample of 385 VIAs (204 males, 181 females) of age range 11 to 19 years, was taken from two divisions of Punjab, that is, Rawalpindi and Lahore, Pakistan. Translated Urdu version of Tromso Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) containing 21 items was used to get responses on Likert-type scale from 1 ( describes me extremely poorly) to 7 ( describes me extremely well). The tool was found to be reliable for the given population as alpha reliability of Urdu-translated TSIS was 0.91 and test–retest reliability was 0.748. Mean, frequencies, and percentages were used to summarize the results. Multiple comparison analysis was computed to assess significant differences regarding gender, socioeconomic status (SES), education, and SI of VIAs. Results revealed that there was no significant difference in SI among VIAs across gender. In addition, significant difference was indicated in SI among VIAs belonging to different SES. VIAs belonging to high SES revealed to have high level of SI. Furthermore, there was significant difference in parents’ education and SI of VIAs. It was recommended that social intervention training programs might help to create awareness and development of skills and capabilities related to SI.