The Relation Between Social Achievement Goals, Social Skills and Adjustment in High School Students

Abstract

Social achievement goals (SAGs) represent the orientation of achievement goals in social settings. The SAG scale has 3 subscales: social development goal, social demonstration-approach goal, and social demonstration-avoid goal. The purpose of this study was to develop the Japanese version of the SAG scale and to examine the relationship between the SAG, social skills and adjustment. Two hundred and fifty high school students participated in the study. The questionnaire was distributed in the first and third semesters. Similar to past studies, the same factor structure was indicated from the Japanese Social Achievement Goal Scale. Next, the concurrent and longitudinal influence of the SAG and social skills on adjustment in the first and third semesters was examined. The relationship between the SAG, social skills and adjustment in the first and third semesters was similar; social development goal related positively whereas social demonstration-avoid goal related negatively to adjustment with social skills acting as a mediator. Additionally, social skills also mediated the relationship between social demonstration-approach goal and adjustment in the third semester. From this research, the concurrent and longitudinal effects of the SAG were confirmed.