Abstract

Social competence is concerned to how people perceive and act in a variety of social situations. This study evaluates the psychometric characteristics of the Perceived Social Competence Scale (PSC-Car). Participants were 572 Portuguese adolescents (M=13.28 years; SD=.59) who are in the 8th grade. Results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis suggest a factorial solution consisting of eight factors. The global indices of fitness of the model are quite robust, proving that it is a good solution in the adjustment of empirical data (X-2/df=4.097, CFI=.895, GFI=.851, RMSEA=.079). The results stimulate the development of new researches and interventions that approach social skills in order to develop socially intelligent behaviors for career adaptation, advancement and success of young people.