Social skills are defined as learned behaviors that are socially acceptable, enabling individuals to interact effectively with others while avoiding socially inappropriate responses (Gresham and Elliott, 1984; Wieczorek et al., 2025a). While the foundation of social skill development starts with infant-parent interactions, the influence of additional interpersonal relationships—such as those with teachers, peers, and other adults—continues to shape these skills (Ericsson and Pool, 2016). As children's social networks grow in both size and complexity, the development of social skills becomes increasingly influenced by these interactions (Birch and Ladd, 1996). Hajovsky et al. (2022), p. 488) argue that evidence suggests that consistently girls score higher than boys on measures of social skills. At kindergarten, teachers rate girls higher than boys in social and behavioral skills (DiPrete and Jennings, 2012). (Knickmeyer and Baron-Cohen 2006, p. 828) indicate that ‘developmentally, a number of studies have reported greater vocabularies and faster rates of language acquisition than males'. This difference may be linked to dopamine activity (Sigmundsson et al., 2021). Soutschek et al. (2017) suggest that males exhibit higher dopamine activity associated with “selfish” rewards, while females show greater dopamine activity related to shared, “prosocial” rewards i.e., which may indicate why girls have better social competence than boys. Social skills are among the most crucial abilities children must develop, alongside academic skills like reading, to navigate their social world effectively (Sigmundsson et al., 2017). This gender difference may also be linked to more testosterone level in boys than girls which may affect both neural structure and function (Knickmeyer and Baron-Cohen, 2006, p. 825). The preschool years are widely recognized as one of the most critical periods in a child's life, with a significant influence on their social development (Okankwu and Ekpo, 2025). Social skills—essential tools for facilitating social adaptation, forming relationships, and maintaining existing ones—are primarily acquired during the early years of life and have significant short- and long-term impacts on an individual's development (Aksoy and Baran, 2010, p. 663).

Research suggests a moderate to strong correlation between social skills and academic achievement (Elliott et al., 2025). In this respect ‘Researchers have documented meaningful and predictive relationship between students social behaviors and their long-term academic achievement' (Gresham, 2015, p. 101).

Gilbert et al. (2017), p. 1) define compassion as a ‘sensitivity to suffering of self and others, with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it'. The word compassion comes from the latin word compati meaning ‘to suffer with'. Gilbert et al. (2017) argues that we can both give and receive compassion. Research indicates that developing caring and compassion-focused motives for self and others has a range of benefits both on genetic expression, psychological processes, physiological processes and social relationships (Gilbert et al., 2017, p. 1).

Compassion for others: Compassion for others is the ability to recognize suffering and feel motivated to alleviate it. It involves empathy, kindness, and a genuine concern for others' well-being. Compassion strengthens human connections, fosters emotional resilience, and promotes a more caring and supportive society where individuals feel seen, valued, and understood (Gilbert et al., 2017).

Compassion from others: Compassion from others provides comfort, support, and a sense of belonging during difficult times. It helps individuals feel understood and valued, fostering healing, emotional strength, and deeper human connection (Gilbert et al., 2017).

Self-compassion: According to Neff, self-compassion involves three core elements: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. It means treating oneself with care during difficulties, recognizing that suffering is part of human experience, and observing painful emotions without judgment. Neff's approach fosters resilience, emotional balance, and a healthier relationship with oneself (Neff, 2011).

In relation to social competence, compassion is of great importance, as it enables individuals to understand and respond to others' emotions and needs. It supports empathy, respectful communication, cooperation, and the development of positive, trusting relationships across diverse social contexts (Gilbert et al., 2017).

Specific constructs in this domain reflect children's prosocial and social–cognitive abilities, including interpreting social cues, engaging positively with others, solving social problems, understanding others' perspectives, and balancing personal and others' needs. These constructs are typically assessed through adult reports, systematic observations, and structured tasks evaluating social understanding (Halle and Darling-Churchill, 2016). Wieczorek et al. (2025b) indicate that social skills are assessed through observable behaviors such as cooperation, self-regulation, and self-control (e.g. Social Skills Rating System: Gresham and Elliott, 1990). In this respect, Junge et al. (2020) suggest that there is no consensus on which skills should be considered vital for social competence. Consequently, they selected a set of five skills that serve as possible indicators of children's (potential for) social competence: social encoding, social problem solving, emotion regulation, communication, and empathy.

This article reports the development of the scale aimed at the objective quantification of social skills for children at the age of 3–5 years. The principal aim of the study is to examine the applicability of the nine-item scale, its inter-rater reliability and internal consistency in a sample of children between the ages of 3–5 years. The overall goal is to contribute to understanding the complex construct of social skills.

Data was analyzed using SPSS (version 29). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to examine the underlying structure of the Social Skills Scale in an Icelandic sample. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by comparing the level of agreement between two independent observers (nursery schoolteachers) who evaluated a subsample of 10 children.

Internal consistency of the scale items was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Additionally, Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) were calculated to evaluate the relationships between individual item scores and the total scale score. To avoid statistical dependence, each item was excluded from the total score when computing its individual correlation.

As a first step, demographic differences related to the variables of interest were examined. Age was not significantly correlated with the mean score on the Social Skills Scale, r = 0.092, p = 0.304 (Pearson's correlation).

An independent samples t-test revealed a significant difference between gender groups. Female participants had a higher mean social skills score (M = 4.29, SD = 0.54) compared to male participants (M = 4.05, SD = 0.73), t(125) = −2.066, p = 0.020 (one-tailed).

Exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring extraction method was used to discover the underlying factor structure of the social skills scale in an Icelandic sample. The results suggest that the scale consisted of one factor reflecting social skills. Only one factor was extracted based on inspection of scree-plot, eigenvalues and theoretical sensitivity. The other factors explained relatively little variance (11%). The extracted factor had an eigenvalue of 4.848 and the component explained 50% variance of social skills. In addition, the factor loadings ranged from 0.38 to 0.86 indicating that the items correlated well with the latent construct. The overall KMO was 0.84 indicating an adequate sample size to detect dimensionality, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.001).

To assess reliability, the level of agreement between two independent observers (preschool teachers) was evaluated for 10 children, comprising five girls and five boys. Inter-rater reliability of the two independent observers was estimated by using ICC (2,1) (Shrout and Fleiss, 1979). The results indicated good reliability for the test item, with ICCs between the two raters 0.88 for 3–5-years old (mean age: 4.04, SD: 0.21) Icelandic children (N = 10).

The means and standard deviations for the nine questions in the Social Skills Scale are shown in Table 2 both for the group as a whole (N = 127), for the girls (N = 55) and for the boys (N = 72). There was a significant difference between the genders in total score and in four of the questions in favor of the girls.

All individual items correlated positively with the total score, with correlations ranging from 0.35 to 0.76 (see Table 3). Correlations between scores of the individual items ranged between low and high (0.12–0.83) (see Table 4). Furthermore, the Social Skill Scale showed good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha value of 0.89.

The results from the study indicated that that the scale is applicable for the studied age-range (3–5). It is of interest that the girls score higher in the total score and in four questions in the scale. The questions were: ‘How is the child's language development/vocabulary?'; ‘Does the child have friends in kindergarten?'; ‘Is the child good at sharing toys and playing with other children?'; ‘Does the child communicate well with peers? ‘. Earlier research indicates gender difference in language development i.e., higher mean score for girls than boys (Fenson et al., 1994, 2007). This may be related to both nature (biological factors) and nurture (environmental factors) (Sigmundsson et al., 2017). Gottlieb's theory on probabilistic epigenesis (Gottlieb, 1998) indicates that individual development is always the interaction between genetic activity, neural activity, behavior and environment. Regarding gender differences in questions related to social skills research indicate that girls' social skills were consistently rated higher than boys from kindergarten to sixth grade (Hajovsky et al., 2022, p. 488). Our research group is carrying out further studies to test the new scale with other measures related to motor competence, physical fitness and vocabulary.

To assess the reliability of the test item, inter-rater agreement was examined between two independent, experienced preschool teachers who evaluated 10 children aged 3–5 years. The analysis produced an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.88, indicating strong inter-rater reliability and suggesting that the scale yields consistent results across observers. This high level of agreement likely reflects the teachers' comparable professional training and extensive experience in early childhood education, which supported the application of similar evaluation criteria based on a shared understanding of developmental milestones.

The scale was developed with nine items designed to be combined into a total score, providing an overall estimate of social skills in children aged 3–5 years. The primary purpose of the scale is to offer a reliable and valid measurement that can reasonably be interpreted as an indicator of social skills in children in this age group. Preliminary analysis suggests that the items are conceptually aligned, targeting key aspects of early childhood social development. Ensuring internal consistency is crucial for confirming that all items contribute meaningfully to the same underlying construct, thereby supporting the scale's overall reliability and practical application in early education settings.

Further research is needed to refine the conceptualization of social skills and deepen understanding of this important developmental construct. A larger, more diverse sample would strengthen generalizability and allow more robust analyses across ages and developmental levels, as the present study included only one country. Scale validation is still pending, and future studies will examine concurrent validity by comparing the scale with established “gold standard” measures administered simultaneously. In addition, longitudinal designs could clarify developmental stability over time. Potential rater bias and context-specific influences should also be addressed, for example by incorporating multiple informants, independent observations, or assessments across different settings. Our research group is conducting further studies to test the new scale alongside established measures of motor competence, physical fitness, and vocabulary. The theoretical rationale is that social skills develop through interaction with cognitive, linguistic, and motor domains, reflecting a holistic and interrelated developmental process (Sigmundsson et al., 2017).