ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

College of Natural and Computational Science

Group Members ……………………………….ID Numbers

1. Muhagir Dawod…………………………...…………….UGR/3500/13

2. Mustefa Aman……………………………………...…...UGR/5256/13

3. Nahom Amare…………………………………..…..…..UGR/7099/13

4. Nahom Masresha………………………...……………..UGR/0297/13

5. Nahom Mersha………………………….………..…….UGR/5268/13

6. Namomsa Waktole……………………………….….…UGR/2242/13

7.Naol Alemu…………………………………………… UGR/4904/13

8. Rihanna Muhammed…………………………………..UGR/0438/13

9. Sabina Yimer……………………………….………… UGR/2693/13

10. Samuel Wondimagegnehu……………….…………… UGR/1486/13

11. Samuel Zebene…………………………..………...… UGR/2139/13

12. Temesgen Kuma…………………………..……….... UGR/4728/13

13. Tigist Tebeje…………………………………….…… UGR/8983/13

14. Yabibal Eshetie…………………………….…...…… UGR/2823/13

15. Yahya Mohammed…………………………………... UGR/0809/13

16. Yeshiwork Erstu……………………………………... UGR/0813/13

17. Rumman Murad……………………………………… UGR/6778/13

18. Abdirahman Ahmed………………………………….UGR/5822/13

Submitted to: Mr. Birhanu Woldemeskel

Submission Date: Aug 25, 2021

 Social Skills

A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are

created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization.

Interpersonal skills are actions used to effectively interact with others. Interpersonal skills relate to categories of dominance vs.
submission, love vs. hate, affiliation vs. aggression, and control vs. autonomy (Leary, 1957). Positive interpersonal skills
include persuasion, active listening, delegation, and stewardship, among others. Social psychology, an academic discipline
focused on research relating to social functioning, studies how interpersonal skills are learned through societal-based changes
in attitude, thinking, and behavior. It attempts to explain how the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others influences the
thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individual.

To have a good social skill, one have to understand what diversity, gender and social isolation, interpersonal communication,
social influences, peer pressure, assertiveness, conflict and conflict resolution, team work,, and skills of overcoming risky
behavior means.

A. Understanding Cultural Diversity

Culture

In socio-cultural perspective of Psychology, behavior is the constant makeup of the environmental and the cultural
background of an individual. Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people
encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. It is a set of phenomenon that are grouped together
and what makes up the set will largely depend on the implicit or explicit theoretical assumptions.

In cultural psychology, culture have the following basic functions: differentiating the environment along positive and negative
valence, inventing language/communicative means to classify objects and phenomenon, and to communicate about them,
formulating laws that will govern actions and interactions, transforming nature to meet the desire and need of the people and
finally, there is a cooperation of individual with different talent and purpose for pursuing the common goal.

Every culture is the invention of human beings since it has a double face as the man who created it. The mourning and
wedding traditions, helping needy people, religious customs, and the clothing styles are all the products of culture. But so is
the killing of the million Jews, the rejection of a mother who give birth to twins, or casting a child with some deformity are all
the results of cultures
– they are done by the members and justified by the cultural ideology.

Therefore for a given individual, culture is the balance with which he/she differentiate what is correct, and what is wrong.

Cultural Diversity
For most of the human history cultural diversity was not issue due to the fact that there was limited methods of
communications. The difficulty to make voyages and the limited amount of information available about other societies forced
human beings to live in more or less isolated environment.

However the difference in traditions, customs, or culture are the result of many factors. For example, climate have a big role
in determining the clothing styles, the main food type, or the wedding traditions. Other human made and natural factors also
play their role in diversifying culture.

The term “culturally diverse” is often used interchangeably with the concept of “multiculturalism.” Sociologist Dr. Caleb
Rosado, who specializes in diversity and multiculturalism, described seven important actions involved in the definition of
multiculturalism:

• recognition of the abundant diversity of cultures

• respect for the differences

• acknowledging the validity of different cultural expressions and contributions

• valuing what other cultures offer

• encouraging the contribution of diverse groups

• empowering people to strengthen themselves and others to achieve their maximum potential by being critical of
their own biases

• celebrating rather than just tolerating the differences in order to bring about unity through diversity

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So why is cultural diversity an issue today?
Starting from the renaissance time, there is improvement in the mode of transportation and communication technologies.
Especially now in the period of globalization the different communication means, the internet, the communication technologies
and Medias, have made information easily accessible. Furthermore, the high rate of emigration and immigration have made
possible the physical intermingling of people with different beliefs, mourning and wedding styles, eating customs, and moral
values.

Therefore in today’s world, people cannot exist in homogenized world. The world is composed of different ethnicity, religion, moral
values, political orientation, and so on. Which means we live in a world of diversity. This affects the government policies, the
institutional laws, and even our day to day activities.

While living in a culturally diversified community, there are some behavioral characteristics expected from the individuals of
the society for a harmonies life.

Managing Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity can be taken as an instrument to constructive results. But also the negative impacts it can have on the
students, the university, the communities, and the country can be catastrophic. Therefore, to get the positive fruits and to
avoid the negative impacts of cultural diversity, we must be able to manage Cultural diversity.

Regarding managing diversity we have to understand the concept of the following terms:

• Ethnocentrism – is a behavior that have a higher value for once own ethnicity and culture. This type of
characteristics will have a negative impact on the wellbeing of a diversified group. Moreover it will create us- vs.-
they group and will develop into unnecessary competition and conflicts.
• Cultural relativism – is a behavior that sees different culture in their own background and context. This type of
behavior will have a positive impact on the well-being of a diversified group. Since it views culture according to their
own perspectives, it can show the good practices and the one that should be improved by the community in
unbiased way.

The key to manage diversity is to capitalize more effectively on our capacity for multiple social identities. All individuals have
multicultural heritage, and all of us are capable of juggling multiple identities across a lifetime (Seelye & Wasilewski, 1996).
Hence, to manage cultural diversities and live with others in harmony, we need to;
• Increase level of understanding about each other‘s cultures by interacting with people outside of one‘s own culture

• Avoid imposing values on one other that may conflict or be inconsistent with cultures.

• When interacting with others who may not be proficient in one‘s language, recognize that their limitations in the
language proficiency in no way reflects their level of intellectual functioning.

B. Gender and Social Inclusion

Gender vs. Sex

Sex describes the biological differences between men and women, which are universal and determined at birth. Gender on the
other hand refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in our families, our societies and our
cultures. The concept of gender also includes the expectation held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviors of
both women and men(femininity and masculinity). Gender roles and expectations are learned, they can be changed over time
and they vary within and between cultures.

In the past, it was generally believed that, the characteristics and attributes assigned to men and women stemmed from the
biological or natural difference that they had. But around 1970 a different view emerged suggesting that, this characterization of
men and women were merely social constructs, that had a very limited relation with biology. To this effect scientists started
referring to the characters, attributes and roles assigned to men and women as gender, while reserving sex for the biological
difference the two may have.

As the Gender as social structure theory states, gender has three levels of analysis: individual, interactional and structural(BJ
Risman,2004). The individual level refers to stable traits of men and women, emphasizing on the process involved in the
development of gendered selves and gendered ways of cognitively interpreting the social world. The interactional level
examines the ways in which social behavior is constrained or facilitated by gender. The structural level addresses how macro-
level patterns such as the positions to which people are assigned in the rewards attached to those positions, leads to the
differences in the behavior or experiences of men and women.

Social Inclusion

Due to restrictive laws, cultural practices, institutional barriers disproportionate access to quality ,healthcare and other
resources, women and other discriminated groups worldwide are marginalized from economic, political and social spheres.

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Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms of participation in society for people who are disadvantaged on the basis
of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status, through enhanced opportunities, access to
resources, voice and respect for rights.

C. Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and
non-verbal messages: it is face-to-face communication. It is not just about what is actually said –the language used- but how it
is said and the non-verbal messages sent through tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures and body language. When two or
more people are in the same place and are aware of each other’s presence, then communication is taking place, no matter how
subtle or unintentional.

Core elements of Interpersonal are: for any communication to occur there must be at least two people involved(The
communicators), a message not only the speech but also non-verbal message must be exchanged, a feedback consisting of
messages the receiver returns which allows the sender to know how accurately the message has been received, a situational
and social Context in which the interaction takes place, anything that distorts the message so that what is received is different
from what is intended by the speaker(Noise) a physical means by which the message is transferred from one person to
another(Channel).

Interpersonal communication skills is a key to life and can be used to give and collect information, influence the attitudes and
behavior of others, form contacts and maintain relationships, make sense of the world and our experiences in it, express
personal needs and understand the needs of others, give and receive emotional support, make decisions and solve problems,
anticipate and predict behavior and regulate power.

D. Social Influences
Social influence occurs when one person (the source) engages in some behavior (such as persuading, threatening, promising,
or issuing orders) that causes another person (the target) to behave differently from how he or she would otherwise behave.

Social influence phenomena often are divided into conformity, compliance and obedience categories.

Conformity

People exhibit conformity when there is a change in belief or behavior in response to real or imagined social pressure.
Conformity can be motivated either by a desire for accuracy, called informational influence, or a need for social approval, called
normative influence. Conformity rates can be affected by culture, age, gender and the size of the group.

Compliance

Compliance implies an instance where a person may agree in public with a group of people but the person privately disagrees
with the group’s viewpoint. Usually the thoughts of social reward and punishment may lead people to compliance when they
really do not want to comply.

For instance buying something after being persuaded by a pushy salesperson or trying a particular brand of item after seeing a
commercial endorsement featuring your favorite celebrity are examples of what is known as compliance.

Companies seeking to sell their products to consumers often use the techniques identified by social psychologists for promoting
compliance. But employers also use them to bring about compliance and raise the productivity of employees in the workplace.

Obedience

Obedience refers to a type of social influence where a person follows an order from another person who is usually an authority
figure. Although obedience is considerably less common than conformity and compliance, it does occur in several specific kinds
of relationships. For example, we may show obedience to our bosses, teachers, or parents merely because of the power they
hold to reward or punish us. Obedience is a form of social influence that involves performing an action under the orders of an
authority figure. It differs from compliance (which involves changing your behavior at the request of another person)
and conformity (which involves altering your behavior in order to go along with the rest of the group).

Instead, obedience involves altering your behavior because a figure of authority has told you to.

.E. Peer Pressure

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Peer pressure is the direct or indirect influence on people by peers, or the effect on an individual who is encouraged and wants
to follow their peers by changing their attitudes, values or behaviors to conform to those of the influencing group or individual.
The term “peer” often refers to people one knows in real life and who have a similar social status to oneself. However, peer
pressure can also exerted by larger culture. For example, television shows can convey to the public an acceptable way to
behave, even though the people on TV do not know every individual they are influencing.

Peer pressure can not only bring about changes in behavior, but also thoughts, opinions, and feelings. While peer
pressure is most frequently used to describe the influence of friends on teenagers, all people can be subject to peer
pressure. As children and adolescents our peers are our classmates and friends. As teens and young adults, our class mates,
coworkers, friends and even our families can be our peers. 

Peer pressure can be active or passive.

 Active peer pressure describes a situation where a person tries to convince someone else to do something.
For example, two friends might encourage a third friend to drive above the speed limit since “everyone drives
that fast anyway.”
 Passive peer pressure refers to modeled or mimicked behavior. Someone with several friends who text while
driving may be more likely to text and drive themselves. They may reason that their friends text and drive, so it
must not be so bad.
Passive peer pressure, sometimes called unspoken pressure, may have more influence over behavior than active peer
pressure. Unspoken pressure may be harder to resist because it can seem easier to go along with the crowd in order to
fit in, especially when there’s no explicit pressure to do something. People who don’t feel pushed into something may
have a harder time finding an opportunity to refuse.
Many people consider peer pressure a negative thing, but this isn’t always the case. People, especially teens and young
adults, may be more likely to do prosocial behaviors when they see people their own age doing the same things. For
example, research has shown that teens with friends who volunteer are more likely to volunteer themselves.
Other examples of positive behavior might include:

 Attending school regularly and participating in class

 Taking time for physical activity
 Practicing kindness and compassion

HOW TO DEAL WITH PEER PRESSURE

Coping with peer pressure can be tough. It can be difficult to find the right way to say no to friends and classmates,
especially if you are worried about possible consequences such as bullying, social isolation or rejection.

Consider trying some of the following when faced with peer pressure.
- Practice responses beforehand e.g. Learning to say ‘No thanks’
- If you know you’ll be in a situation where you could face negative peer pressure, take a friend or sibling
- Plan a safety phrase with a friend
- Listen to your instincts
- Recognize unhealthy dynamics and avoiding to spend time with people having negative attitudes
- Asking advise or support

F. Assertiveness
As Dorland’s Medical Dictionary states, assertiveness is a form of behavior characterized by a confident declaration or
affirmation of a statement without need of proof; this affirms the person’s rights or point of view without either aggressively
threatening the rights of another(assuming a position of dominance) or submissively permitting another to ignore or deny one’s
rights or point of view.

Assertiveness is a method of critical thinking where an individual speaks up in defense of their views or insight of erroneous
information. Assertive people are able to outspoken and analyze information and point out areas of information lacking
substance, details or evidence. Assertiveness supports creative thinking and effective communication.

Assertive communication involves respect for the boundaries of oneself and others. It also presumes an interest in the
fulfillment of needs and wants through cooperation.

Assertive people tend to have the following characteristics:

- They feel free to express their feelings, thoughts, and desires.

- They are able to initiate and maintain comfortable relationships with other people.
- They know their rights
- They have control over their anger. This does not mean that they repress this feeling; it means that they control anger
and talk about it in a reasoning manner.
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 - They are willing to compromise with others, rather than always wanting their own way and tend to have good self-
esteem.

G. Conflict and Conflict Resolution

Conflict is simply differing ideas or actions, often related to the selfish pursuit of needs (known and unknown) that end in a state
of unrest. It is a necessary and permanent part of life. The important thing to remember is that conflict is natural. It can be a
slight conflict that causes no harm or an egregious conflict that results in irreparable damage.

Conflict itself is neither good nor bad. When conflict is addressed maturely with an eye to a positive resolution it can, in most
cases, lead to growth among all the conflicting parties.

According to Daniel Katz(1965), There are three main sources of conflict: economic, value, and power. Economic conflict
involves competing motives to attain scarce resources. Value conflict involves incompatibility in ways of life or ideologies. And
power conflict occurs when each party wishes to maintain or maximize the amount of influence that it exerts in the relationship
and the social setting. And another important source of conflict is ineffective communication. Miscommunication and
misunderstanding can create conflict even where there are no basic incompatibilities.

Types of Conflict
There are four main types of conflict, and they stem from many sources. When looking for the source of a conflict, it's important
to remember that the different types of conflict reflect where the conflict originates (internally or externally) and the number of
people involved (personal or group).

-Interpersonal Conflict: Conflict that exists between two people is called interpersonal conflict. The conflict is external to each
person (hence the 'inter-' prefix) and exists only between the two people. Interpersonal conflict can be seen any time two people
disagree on a topic. We see it in people as young as toddlers when they fight over a single toy and as old as two nursing home
patients when they argue over politics. Because we have different likes and dislikes, enjoy different things, and view the world
from different perspectives, interpersonal conflicts are bound to happen.

-Intrapersonal conflict: is when you feel conflicted about your own thoughts or actions. Maybe you've always told people they
should help the homeless and then, when you see a homeless person on the street, you become afraid and turn away. The
disconnect between your words and actions may cause internal turmoil. Intrapersonal conflict is always a psychological battle
for the person experiencing it. While intrapersonal conflict can be difficult, its resolution results in a stronger understanding of
yourself.

-Intergroup Conflict: 'Inter-' means external and 'group' means sets of multiple things, so intergroup conflict relates to conflicts
that happen between solidified groups of people. This type of conflict happens constantly during any heated political campaign.
It isn't just the two candidates in conflict, but individuals who strongly identify with one or the other may be involved in the clash
of ideas and ideology.

Conflict Outcomes

Conflict always manifests itself in some specific outcomes. Three possible outcomes can emerge:
- Dominance or imposition, resulting in resentment and sometimes destructive consequences.
- Withdrawal or avoidance, resulting in resentment and lowered self-image.
- Compromise of resolution, resulting in at least some of the beneficial consequences being achieved.

These outcomes are dependent on the approach or strategy used to deal with the conflict. The choice among alternative
strategies can spell the difference between resentment and mutual respect. These outcomes result from five basic approached,
or strategies, available to address the conflict situation:-

Collaboration: A win/win strategy based on problem solving where the interests of all parties can be met. This approach results
in maintaining strong interpersonal or inter-group relationships while ensuring that all parties achieve their interests.

Compromise: A mini-win/mini-lost strategy based on a solution that partially satisfies the interests of the parties involved. This
approach results in the parties’ attempting to win as much as possible while preserving the interpersonal or inter-group
relationships as much as possible.

Accommodation: A yield-lose/win strategy wherein one party yields to the other party (or parties) to protect and preserve the
relationships involved.

Controlling: A win/lost strategy based on imposing a particular preferred solution on the other party (or parties). This approach
results in sacrificing the interpersonal or inter-group relationship to achieve a desired outcome, regardless of the consequences
to the other party (or parties).
Avoiding: A lose/lose strategy based on withdrawing and choosing to leave the conflict. This approach results in abandoning
both the desired outcome and the relationships involved.

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The win/win approach to conflict management is one in which the problem is viewed as external to the persons involved. The
opposing parties collaborate to seek a high-quality solution that meets their mutual needs while preserving their relationship.
The win/win strategy involves the use of problem solving methods and is general the ideal approach for managing both conflicts
of needs and conflict of beliefs, since it resolves the conflict and results in mutual respect between the conflicting parties.

The other strategies for conflict management, which as a group are called forcing strategies or approaches, are those in which
each party tackles the problem separately. When the problem comes between the parties and distances them, one or both
parties end up settling for a solution that does not meet their interests. The forcing approaches generally represent less-than-
optimal methods for managing conflicts, since they result in resentment and continue to distance the disputing parties from one
another.

H. Team Work
Teams are groups of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually
accountable for its achievement. Ideally, they develop a distinct identity and work together in a coordinated and mutually
supportive way to fulfill their goal and purpose.

An effective team accomplishes its goals in a way that meets the standards set by those who evaluate its performance. For
instance, a team may have a goal of delivering a new product within six months on a budget of $100,000. Even if the team
finishes the project on time, it can be considered effective only if it stayed within its expected budget.

Effective teamwork requires certain conditions to be in place that will increase the likelihood that each member’s contributions—
and the effort of the group as a whole—will lead to success. Effective teams share five characteristics:

 Shared values: a common set of beliefs and principles about how and why the team members will work together
 Mutual trust: confidence between team members that each puts the best interest of the team ahead of individual
priorities
 Inspiring vision: a clear direction that motivates commitment to a collective effort
 Skill/talent: the combined abilities and expertise to accomplish the required tasks and work productively with others
 Rewards: recognition of achievement toward objectives and reinforcement of behavior that supports the team’s work

Effective teamwork requires that people work as a cohesive unit. These five characteristics can help individuals collaborate with
others by focusing their efforts in a common direction and achieving an outcome that can only be reached by working together.

I. Overcoming Risky Behavior

Risky behavior can be defined as one’s purposive participation in some form of behavior that involves potential negative
consequence or losses (social, monetary or interpersonal) as well as perceived positive consequences or gains.

Taking risks is fairly common in adolescence. Yet, risky behaviors can be associated with serious, long-term, and–in some
cases–life-threatening consequences. This is especially the case when adolescents engage in more than one harmful behavior.
A more powerful and cost-effective approach may be to employ strategies designed to address factors associated with multiple
risky behaviors. These strategies are to:

 Support and strengthen family functioning;

 Increase connections between students and their schools;
 Make communities safe and supportive for children and youth;
 Promote involvement in high quality out-of-school-time programs;
 Promote the development of sustained relationships with caring adults;
 Provide children and youth opportunities to build social and emotional competence;
 Provide children and youth with high quality education during early and middle childhood.

References
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- Barbara J. Risman (2004). Gender as a Social Structure: Theory wrestling with Activism

- Feldman, R.S. (2011). Understanding Psychology (8th edit.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

- Gary R.,(2008). APA Concise Dictionary of Psychology

- H. Ned Seelye, J.H. Wasilewski (1996). Between cultures: developing self-identity in a world of diversity

- Skills you need - https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/interpersonal-communication.

- T. F. Leary’s (1957). Interpersonal diagnosis of personality