An Introduction to the Social Style Model

TRACOM’s Social Style Model is an easy-to-use tool for learning about your
behavioral preferences. It will help you understand why you find some relationships
more productive than others. It will help you develop insight about your behavioral
strengths and behavioral weaknesses. It will help you develop a way of
communicating with others, knowing that behavioral Styles are not good or bad, just
different. The model stresses the value of diversity as a way to build on your
strengths and the strengths of others to develop productive relationships.

The Social Style Model, which you will use as a reference for looking at how you see
yourself, is one of the most widely used and highly regarded behavioral models in
use today. Originally developed in the I 960s by TRACOM founder David W. Merrill,
Ph.D., an industrial psychologist, the Social Style Model is studied and used in
corporations, governments, school systems and by individuals like yourself, not only
in the United States, but also around the world. More than 1.5 million people have
experienced some form of Social Style training or exposure. With just a little effort,
you will be able to readily apply the Social Style concepts to any relationship. The
results should prove rewarding.

Where Did Your Style Come From?

If several of your friends or colleagues were to follow you around for a couple of days
and record how you behaved, you would see some interesting results. First of all,
they would say that you engage in a wide range of different behaviors. Next, they
would notice that you tend to use some behaviors more than others; some a lot
more. Why do you suppose this is the case?

Simply put, you use some behaviors more than others because they are the ones
which make you most comfortable in relating to people. These behaviors became
comfortable for you early in your life. As you used them more often, they became
your behavioral habits, and it’s unlikely you will dramatically change these ways of
responding to others.
You are now ready to complete the Social Style Questionnaire and the Versatility
Questionnaire that are included with this guide. Complete them now, following the
instructions within each. When both are completed, return to page 3 of this guide.

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Dimensions of Behavior
Your SOCIAL STYLE Self-Perception Profile is a summary of how you see yourself
interacting with others along two very strong dimensions of human behavior. These
dimensions are called Assertiveness and Responsiveness.

ASSERTIVENESS* is a measure of the degree to which you see yourself as

tending to ask or as tending to tell as you interact with others. It is a reflection of how
you see yourself influencing others. If you see yourself as more tell assertive, you
tend to state your opinions with assurance, confidence and force. You make positive
statements and declarations and attempt to direct the actions of others. If you see
yourself as more ask assertive, you tend to be more cautious and reserved about
sharing your opinions. You attempt to influence the thinking and actions of others in a
more quiet, low-key, questioning manner.

RESPONSIVENESS is a measure of the degree to which you see yourself as

tending to control, i.e., keep your feelings and emotions inside of you. Or, it is the
degree to which you emote, i.e., outwardly display your feelings and emotions with
others. It is also, in part, a measure of the extent to which you react to emotional
influences, appeals or displays. If you see yourself as one who controls your feelings,
you tend not to react readily to these emotional appeals and are more likely to focus
on ideas, things, data and tasks. You are less likely to share your feelings publicly. If
you see yourself as more emoting, you tend to share your emotions and readily
express anger, joy, happiness or hurt feelings. You are more likely to respond to
emotional appeals and influences.

*NOTE: This definition is different from the one found in assertiveness training. We
are measuring the different degree to which you see yourself as tell assertive or ask
assertive.

A
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The Four Social Style Positions
You will notice in the below illustration that we measure Assertiveness on the
horizontal axis with more ask-assertive behaviors to the left, and more tell-assertive
behaviors to the right.

Responsiveness is measured on the vertical axis with more controlled behavior at the
top and more emoting behavior at the bottom. By combining behavioral
characteristics from each of these two behavioral dimensions, we arrive at the four
SOCIAL STYLE positions: Analytical, Driving, Amiable & Expressive.

Control

Analytical Driving

Amiable Expressive

Emote

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Key Reminders
s
+ There is no best Social Style position

The purpose for learning about your Style is to know more about yourself. With the
new knowledge, you can grow and develop into a more productive and effective
individual.

+ Your behavioral Style is not your whole personality

Some people like to refer to behavioral Style as personality style. Your personality
encompasses more than just your behavioral Style. It includes your hopes, your
dreams, your intelligence, your values and all of those other things that make you
uniquely you! Said another way, your behavioral Style is only a part of your total
personality, although a very important part.

+ Your behavioral Style profile represents a theme in your performance

All of us have, at one time or another, displayed behaviors that fall all along the
assertiveness and responsiveness dimension. But, Style is the way we see ourselves

behaving, or preferring to behave, most of the time; it is your behavioral comfort

zone. It is the theme in our performance.

+ Your behavioral Style has growth actions

Each of us has behavioral weaknesses. Driving Styles tend to rush into action and
dictate activities without listening to others. Amiable Styles tend to acquiesce and go
along with others, even though they might not agree with a course of action.
Expressive Style people can be very impulsive, not thinking through all the
implications of their actions. Analytical individuals get bogged down in details and
options, without taking a definitive stand on issues. All of these style-related
tendencies can cause tension for others.

+ Your challenge: Take the initiative to establish and build effective

relationships with others

Don’t expect the other person to go out of his or her way to accommodate you. You must
decide what you are going to do to meet the needs of others and make the relationship
mutually productive.

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Social Style Self-Perception Questionnaire
Instructions

INTRODUCTION
How do you see yourself?

Shortly, you will answer a series of questions about how you see yourself interacting every
day with those around you—your co-workers, your supervisor, your employees, your
teachers, your fellow students, your friends and your family.

The questionnaire you are about to complete, and the information resulting from it, will give
you a snapshot about the importance and value you place on certain behaviors and how
you tend to get things done with others.

Please keep in mind this important point as you complete the questionnaire: there are no
right or wrong answers. Complete each question as you see yourself interacting with those
around you.

SELF-PERCEPTION QUESTIONNAIRE INSTRUCTIONS

The questionnaire contains pairs of statements. Please select the statement you believe
better describes you. In some cases, you may find that both statements apply because it
depends on the situation.” While this is often true, think of how you deal with, or tend to deal
with, most people most of the time.
If you believe statement “A’ better describes you, place an “X” in the box immediately
following statement “A.” If you believe statement “B” better describes you, place an “X” in
the box immediately following statement “B.” Remember, select only one of the two
statements for each of the pairs of statements. Also, please answer all the questions. It
should not take you more than 10 to 15 minutes to make all of your selections.

Example:
1. A. I tend to tell people what is on my mind. [ ]
B. I tend to keep things to myself. [X]

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Social Style Self-Perception Questionnaire

1. A. I tend to tell people what is on my mind. [ ]

B. I tend to keep things to myself. [ ]
2 A. I see myself as cool and guarded with others. [ ]
B. I see myself as warm and friendly with others. [ ]
3. A. I tend to show my emotions to others. [ ]
B. I tend to keep my emotions “inside.” [ ]
4. A. I see myself as fast-paced. [ ]
B. I see myself as slow-paced. [ ]
5. A. I see myself as a risk taker in most situations. [ ]
B. I view myself as one who avoids or minimizes risk in most situations. [ ]
6. A. I see myself as playful and fun-loving. [ ]
B. I see myself as serious and thoughtful. [ ]
7. A. I tend to wait for others to initiate interactions with me. [ ]
B. I tend to initiate interactions. [ ]
8. A. I tend to talk in terms of opinions [ ]
B. I tend to talk in terms of facts. [ ]
9. A. I tend to like to work with others. [ ]
B. I tend to like to work alone. [ ]
10. A. I tend to take charge of a situation. [ ]
B. I tend to remain in the background. [ ]
I I. A. I see myself as outgoing and direct. [ ]
B. I see myself as quiet and moderate. [ ]
12. A. I tend to focus on the outcome or results. [ ]
B. I tend to focus on the process or the method. [ ]
13. A. I tend to be more interested in how people feel. [ ]
B. I tend to be more interested in what people think. [ ]
14. A. I tend to be casual and informal in my dealings with others. [ ]
B. I tend to be businesslike and formal in my dealings with people. [ ]
15. A. I tend to avoid personal involvement with people. [ ]
B. I tend to deal with people in a more personal way. [ ]
16. A. I tend to confront conflict head-on. [ ]
B. I tend to avoid conflict and confrontation. [ ]
17. A. I tend to get impatient with others. [ ]
B. I see myself as patient with others. [ ]
18. A. I tend to have a lot of interaction with others. [ ]
B. I tend to have limited interaction with others. [ ]
19. A. I tend to be more task oriented. [ ]
B. I tend to be more relationship oriented, [ ]
20. A. I tend to be standoffish and aloof with others. [ ]
B. I tend to be open and disclosing with others. [ ]
21. A. I see myself as more competitive with others. [ ]
B. I see myself as more cooperative in dealing with others. [ ]
22. A. I see myself as more reserved in dealing with others. [ ]
B. I see myself as more forceful with other people. [ ]
23. A. I tend to be indifferent to the feelings of others. [ ]
B. I tend to get involved with the feelings of others. [ ]
24. A. I tend to make quick decisions. [ ]
B. I tend to take longer in making decisions. [ ]
25. A. I see myself as easygoing and tolerant. [ ]
B. I see myself as demanding of myself and others. [ ]
26. A. I tend to follow the lead of others. [ ]
B. I tend to direct the actions of others. [ ]
27. A. I tend to be a cautious and measured communicator. [ ]
B. I tend to be an impulsive and dramatic communicator. [ ]
28. A. I tend to keep my opinions and thoughts to myself. [ ]

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 B. I tend to readily share my opinions and ideas. [ ]
29. A. I tend to want to do things my way when I work with others. [ ]
B. I tend to be accepting when I work with other people. [ ]
30. A. I tend to share my personal feelings with others. [ ]
B. I tend to keep my personal feelings to myself. [ ]

Total of each Column

A T C E

You are now ready to score your questionnaire and determine how you see your
Social Style position.

SOCIAL STYLE SCORING INSTRUCTIONS

1. You will notice that each of your answers has been given a value of A, T, C or E. Make a
check mark in the space (to the fight/left of each set of answers) that corresponds to the
answer. The spaces will correspond to four columns labeled “A,” “T,” “C,” and “E.”

2. Add up all of the check marks in the “A” column and write the total in the space labeled
“A” in the “Actual Scores” section at the bottom of the previous page. Repeat the same
steps to arrive at your Actual Score for the “T,” “C,” and “E” columns. See the following
example:

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Your Social Style Self-Perception Profile
1. Transfer the Actual Scores” from each column on the Social Style scoring page of
the Questionnaire to the spaces below.

2. First, take the higher score between A & T and circle that letter on the grid below.
Next, take the higher score between C & E and circle that letter on the grid. Now
draw a line between the two circled letters. The quadrant containing this line
represents your self-identified Social Style.

Your Score:

A T C E

_____ _____ _____ _____

Analytical Director

A T

Supporting Influencer

E
Now you have determined how you see your Social Style position,

Analytical
Driving
Expressive
Amiable