Social appropriateness and impaired perspective in schizophrenia

Self-ratings and judges' ratings of social appropriateness were obtained based upon videotaped role-enactments of schizophrenics (n = 16), mixed psychiatric controls (n = 16), and normal controls (n = 16) in mock social interactions. Schizophrenics were rated significantly lower on social appropriateness and were judged on semantic differential scales as showing greater deficiencies in social behavior. As predicted, impaired perspective among schizophrenics appeared to be limited to appraisals of self. Schizophrenics, like the comparison groups, were able to discriminate significantly between appropriate and inappropriate behavior of others. But unlike the comparison groups, schizophrenics rated their own behavior significantly higher in social appropriateness than did judges.