Interpersonal competence: Rationale, philosophy, and implementation of a conceptual framework

The authors argue that learners who have achieved excellence in interpersonal communication should be able to set and achieve learning goals, collaborate with others, and adapt to situational changes. Five skills derived from the interpersonal competence paradigm are offered as potential focal points for instruction: empathic communication, descriptiveness, owning, self‐disclosure, and behavioral flexibility. Several teaching‐learning strategies are proposed, and methods of evaluating directly observable communication behaviors are presented.