Adroitness (personality trait)

Social adroitness is a personality trait measured in the Jackson Personality Inventory and the Jackson Personality Inventory-Revised. Adroitness is not explicitly measured by these tests, but rather the characteristics are measured through different scales.

Adroitness assesses the ability to regulate your own behavior in order to get what you want from others. It differs from psychopathy in that the adroitness is not intrinsically narcissistic or manipulative, but refers rather to the set of social skills that allow one to work with others productively. In that sense it is closely related to conceptions of emotional intelligence.

Tools of adroit behavior include flattery, indirection, listening, circumspection, reciprocal altruism, politeness and strategic reasoning.

The Jackson Personality Inventory-Revised (JPI-R) is widely considered to be one of the most psychometrically sound measures of personality. In one convenient form, the JPI-R provides a measure of personality that reflects a variety of social, cognitive, and value orientations, which affect an individual's functioning.

The JPI-R was originally based on Murray's theory of needs.

Adroitness is defined by its characteristics and behaviors. Example behaviors include:

Diderot's Encyclopedie offers an early modern perception of adroitness, which in the following quotation is referred to as social finesse. In the quote below it describes the difference between finesse and delicacy.

"Finesse is not entirely the same thing as subtlety. You lay out a trap with finesse , you escape from it with subtlety; your conduct is fine or neatly turned out, you play a subtle trick; if you always act with finesse , you inspire distrust. It’s always a mistake to find finesse in everything. Finesse in works of the mind, as in conversation, consists in the art of not expressing your thought directly, while letting it be easily understood: it’s an enigma that witty people immediately solve. Once, when the Chancellor offered his protection to a high court, the chief justice said, turning towards his colleagues, “Gentlemen, let us give thanks to the Lord Chancellor, he’s giving us more than we ask him for;” [4] that répartie is a very fine one. Finesse in conversation or in writing is not the same thing as delicacy; the former can be applied equally to witty and pleasant things, to blame and even to praise, even to indecent things that are covered by a veil through which you can see them without blushing. You can say bold things with finesse . Delicacy is used to express pleasant and gentle feelings, fine bits of praise; finesse is therefore used rather in an epigram, delicacy in a madrigal. Delicacy is contained in lovers’ jealousies; finesse is not. The praises that Despréaux [5] sang to Louis XIV are not always equally delicate; [6] his satires are not always fine enough. When Iphigenia in Racine’s tragedy receives the order from her father not to see Achilles any more, she cries out: Sweeter gods, you had asked only for my life. [7] The true character of this line is rather delicacy than finesse ."

...
Wikipedia