A linear modeling technique was used to identify valid behavioral referents of molar heterosocial skill ratings in both men and women. Videotapes of the heterosocial interactions of 30 men and 30 women representing a wide range of skill were shown to untrained peers who made molar heterosocial skill ratings and supplied lists of the behavioral cues they believed to be useful in discriminating skillful and unskillful subjects. The most widely endorsed cues were then scored for their rates of occurrence in the target subjects' interactions, and multiple regression analyses were used to construct linear models of behavioral referents for the molar heterosocial skill ratings. Highly skilled men were those who kept their gaze up, asked questions, and used appropriate hand gestures. Highly skilled women were those who kept their gaze up, made eye contact, and avoided speaking too softly.
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