An extensive review of the literature on social decision-making skills was conducted (e.g., Allen, Chinsky, Lochman, Larcen, & Selinger, 1976; D'Zurilla & Goldfried, 1971).

The key skills that were identified include:

1.  a person's beliefs about his/her efficacy in handling a problem;

2.  the self-control and social awareness skills necessary to function in a group or classroom setting;

3.  the capacity to look for and understand the signs of one's own and other's feelings;

4.  the extent to which an individual can generate a variety of goal directed solutions and anticipate their consequences; and

5.  the abilities to develop realistic plans to carry out adaptive solutions effectively and to integrate past experience to inform   future actions.

Maurice J. Elias, Roger P. Weissberg: "School-Based Social Competence Promotion as a Primary Prevention Strategy: A Tale of Two Projects”, The Haworth Press, Binghamton 1990