Perceived Social Competence and Depression

Differences in impressions of social skills between depressed and non-depressed college student participants were investigated. Participants engaged in a 15-minute, face-to-face `getting acquainted' exercise with an assigned partner of the same sex. Based on Beck Depression Inventory scores, participants were classified as depressed or not and three types of dyads were studied: (i) depressed participant interacting with depressed participant; (ii) depressed participant interacting with non-depressed participant; and (iii) non-depressed participant interacting with non-depressed participant. Prior to the interaction, participants reported their mood. After the interaction, participants evaluated their own social competence and the competence of their partners, and completed a second measure of their mood. On all measures of social competence, depressed participants rated themselves as less competent than non-depressed participants. Depressed participants also rated their partners as less competent than non-depressed participants, regardless of the depression level of the partner. Participants' mood prior to their interaction covaried with ratings of one's own skills but not ratings of partners' skills. These results suggest that depressed individuals have a trait-like bias to perceive themselves and others in a negative manner, independent of the mood and manner of expression of their partners. Non-depressed participants did not rate depressed partners as less competent than non-depressed partners, suggesting that depression may be associated more closely with a cognitive set than a skills deficit.