Abstract

In this study, binary logistic regression statistics was used in order to analyze the influence of the variables gender and cultural origin, in the development of social skills of young immigrants. The social skills construct was defined with the responses of N = 749 immigrants to the Social Skills Scale for Young Immigrants (SSSYI), in which six dimensions are evaluated: the ability to say no and cut off interactions, self-expression in social situations, defense of their rights as a consumer, expression of anger or disagreement toward others, the ability to make requests, and the ability to initiate positive interactions with the opposite sex. The analysis was carried out using the statistical software SPSS and STATA. The results showed that there are significant differences in the development of social skills in young immigrants based on their gender and cultural origin. More specifically, it is shown that Asian immigrants are less likely to acquire social skills than the rest of the participants. It is immigrant women who are more likely to obtain these social skills.