Family Interaction and Self-Esteem as Correlates of Students’ Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal skills are essential skills in dealing with society and life in general. Building good rapport with others opens doors to opportunities and establishes healthy relationships within communities. Hence, this descriptive-correlational study explored the College of Arts and Sciences freshman students’ interpersonal communication skills in relation to the quality of their family interaction and to their self-esteem. Data were collected using pretested survey questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Findings of the study revealed that the students had high interpersonal communication skills, self-esteem, and quality of family interaction. It was further found that the students’ quality of family interactions and self- esteem were significantly associated with their interpersonal communication skills. Thus, it is recommended that parents should nurture a strong relationship in the family to develop their children’s ability to interact with others and to boost their self-esteem. Likewise, the school should provide students with engaging activities for the development of their social skills and enhancement of their self-esteem.

Keywords: Interpersonal communication skills, family interaction, self-esteem, quality time, correlation