Mastery of communication skills: Does intelligence matter?

Background: Insight in the influence of intelligence on the mastery of communication skills is important for improving the microcounselling method, an effective training programme for acquiring these skills. Method: Participants were 323 bachelor psychology students. The participants׳ level of verbal, spatial and numerical intelligence was determined. Participants followed either a course in basic skills or a course in advanced skills. Their level of mastery of these skills was assessed with a video test. Results:Both training programmes proved to be effective in training communication skills. As expected, numerical and spatial intelligence were no significant predictors for the mastery of these skills. Verbal intelligence did matter for the mastery of basic communication skills, but only when students are not acquainted with the use of these skills. Discussion: Students profit from training these skills, regardless of their intelligence level.