Cognitive Aspects of Social Failure: Some Implications for Social-Skills Training

It is argued that negative self-beliefs and other irrational thoughts are a central and neglected component in explaining the failure of many clients to benefit from social-skills training. Evidence is reviewed showing that clients suffering various neurotic disorders tend to negatively distort feedback about others' reactions and their own performance in such a way as to bolster negative self-evaluation, and that this in turn inhibits and in other ways interferes with social performance. These negative self-evaluations may also interfere with training objectives, particularly durability and generalisation of new skills. Ways of changing self-beliefs are suggested, and various aspects of cognitive therapy and rational-emotive therapy are recommended as solutions to these problems.