The Association between Digital Literacy and Social Intelligence

Abstract

This present study sought to identify the association between digital literacy and social intelligence. Samples were gathered from 60 undergraduate students studying in management program at a selected public university in Bangkok. A 14-item of Digital Literacy Awareness and a 21-item of Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) were utilized to evaluate level of digital literacy and social intelligence, respectively. Analysis of Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the overall digital literacy had no significant relation to social intelligence. Yet, the overall digital literacy was found to have a positive association to social information process (r = .439, p < 0.01), and a negative correlation to social awareness at a low level (r = -.259, p < 0.05). For the limitations, results of this study showed only relationship between digital literacy and some dimensions of social intelligence, but not causation. This study recommended the further study placing more emphasis on studying cause and effects of these variables. For the originality of research, this study was noteworthy to be the first study in this area that attempted to examine the relationship between digital literacy and social intelligence.