Social skills in psychologists' profession

The interpersonal skills are essential to the professional work of the psychologists. However, the results researches have shown deficits in the social skills repertoire of Psychology undergraduate students at the beginning and at the end of the course. This result suggests that Psychology undergraduate courses do not promote social skills development. This research investigated the opinion of Psychology professionals about the interpersonal skills in relation to their profession. A sample of 74 professionals of a medium town of Minas Gerais, Brazil, participated in this research, answering a questionnaire to evaluate the level of importance and competence of 51 interpersonal skills. The results showed that 39 of these skills were classified as high or maximum importance. There was a significant correlation between the levels of importance and the competence scores. The competence level reported by the subjects in each interpersonal skill was lower than the importance level attributed to the referred interpersonal skills. There were differences in the hierarchy of importance attributed to the skills, according to the theoretical orientation of the psychologists and their academic degree. It is concluded that the interpersonal skills are important for Psychology Professionals, pointing to the need to teach these skills in undergraduate Psychology courses. Keywords: interpersonal skills; psychologists; undergraduate student.