Social and Emotional Skills Well-being, connectedness and success - OECD
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Social and Emotional Skills
Well-being, connectedness
and success
©OECDFOREWORD
Contents Foreword
Foreword 3 Education systems need to prepare students for continuous effort to create the kind of binding social
their future, rather than for our past. In these times, capital through which we can share experiences, ideas
Introduction 4 digitalisation is connecting people, cities and continents and innovation and build a shared understanding among
to bring together a majority of the world’s population in groups with diverse experiences and interests, thus
01. Measuring Social and Emotional Skills 5 ways that vastly increases our individual and collective increasing our radius of trust to strangers and institutions.
potential. But the same forces have made the world also
02. Social and emotional skills drive critical life outcomes 10 more volatile, more complex, and more uncertain. And Over the last years, social and emotional skills have
when fast gets really fast, being slow to adapt makes been rising on the education policy agenda and in the
03. The impact of specific social and emotional skills on life outcomes 17 education systems really slow. The rolling processes of public debate. But for the majority of students, their
automation, hollowing out jobs, particularly for routine development remains a matter of luck, depending on
○ Conscientiousness – getting things done, as required and in time 17 tasks, have radically altered the nature of work and life whether this is a priority for their teacher and their
and thus the skills that are needed for success. For those school. A major barrier is the absence of reliable metrics
○ Openness to experience – exploring the world of things and ideas 20 with the right human capacities, this is liberating and in this field that allow educators and policy-makers to
exciting. But for those who are insufficiently prepared, it make progress visible, and to address shortcomings.
○ Extraversion – enjoying and exceling in the company of others 21 can mean the scourge of vulnerable and insecure work,
and life without prospects. This is why the OECD is now developing a comprehensive
○ Agreeableness – concern for the well-being of others 22 international assessment of the social and emotional skills
We know that preparing students with technical or of students. The study will help education leaders and
○ Emotional stability – having a calm and positive emotionality 23 academic skills alone will not be enough for them to practitioners better support students in the development
achieve success, connectedness and well-being whatever of these critical skills. It will provide insights and guidance
○ Compound social and emotional skills 24 endeavours they wish to pursue. Social and emotional for jurisdictions to better understand the policies and
skills, such as perseverance, empathy, mindfulness, practices that foster the development of social and
04. Social and emotional skills are learnable 27 courage or leadership are central to this. We are born emotional skills amongst students. And it will enable
with what political scientist Robert Putnam calls bonding us to look inside a number of education systems, and
Conclusions 30 social capital, a sense of belonging to our family or other understand where and how success is being achieved,
people with shared experiences, cultural norms, common for students of different ages and backgrounds.
Bibliography 32 purposes or pursuits. But it requires deliberate and
Andreas Schleicher
Director, Education and Skills
©OECD ©OECD 3INTRODUCTION
Measuring
Introduction Social and
“Social and emotional skills” refer to the abilities to
regulate one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviour. These
work well with others, and to take personal and collective
responsibility is increasingly becoming the hallmark
Emotional Skills
skills differ from cognitive abilities such as literacy or of a well-functioning society. Increasing ideological
numeracy because they mainly concern how people polarisation and social tensions are increasing the need
manage their emotions, perceive themselves and engage for tolerance and respect, empathy and generosity, and
with others, rather than indicating their raw ability to the ability to co-operate in order to achieve and protect
process information. But, like literacy and numeracy, they the common good.
are dependent on situational factors and responsive to
change and development through formal and informal Social and emotional skills have been shown to influence The Study on Social and Emotional Skills is a new OECD international survey that assesses 10 and 15
learning experiences. Importantly, social and emotional many important life outcomes, but also to influence the year-old students in a number of cities and countries around the world.
skills influence a wide range of personal and societal development and use of cognitive skills. Coupled with
outcomes throughout one’s life. increasing awareness of their malleability, and their As well as examining the level of children’s socio- Each of the dimensions or categories encompasses a
growing relevance for the future world, this has attracted emotional skills, the study will gather information on cluster of mutually related social and emotional skills.
In an increasingly fast-changing and diverse world, the renewed interest from policy makers and researchers. their family, school and community learning contexts, For example, task performance includes achievement
role of social and emotional skills is becoming more thus aiming to provide information about the conditions orientation, reliability, self-control and persistence.
important. A faster pace of living and a shift to urban Despite their importance, measures of social and and practices that foster or hinder the development of Apart from demonstrating their mutual similarity, these
environments means people need to engage with new emotional skills are still scarce. OECD studies such as these critical skills. The study began in mid-2017 and will groupings also ensure systematic, comprehensive
ways of thinking and working and new people. Ageing the Programme for International Student Assessment be carried out over a three-year period, with the main and balanced consideration of individuals’ social and
and more diverse populations and the dismantling of (PISA) and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) are fieldwork taking place in 2019 and the findings released emotional skills.
traditional social networks place additional emphasis on covering a growing range of social and emotional skills later in 2020.
people’s sense of trust, co-operation and compassion. and have shown not only that these skills are related The study also includes the so-called “compound” skills.
Rising complexity and the increasing pace of technological to important life outcomes, but also that they can be The study draws on a well-known framework in the field These skills represent combinations of two or more
change call for the ability to act independently and to assessed meaningfully within and across cultural and of social and emotional skills – the Big Five model – to individual skills. For example, self-efficacy represents a
adjust to changes on-the-go. linguistic boundaries. The OECD is now taking this work provide a general outline of how these skills should be combination of skills from the conscientiousness, emotional
further with a comprehensive international assessment organised (Figure 1). Social and emotional skills in this stability and extraversion categories of the Big Five.
Social and emotional skills determine how well people of the social and emotional skills of school-age children, model are arranged hierarchically, with five general skill Compound skills are found to be useful for describing and
adjust to their environment and how much they achieve through the Study on Social and Emotional Skills. The categories that can be split into narrower, lower-order understanding certain aspects of behaviour and in many
in their lives. But the development of these skills is skills included in the study are set out in the following skills. The broad categories of the Big Five are:1 cases they are shown to affect important life outcomes.
important not only for the well-being of individuals, but pages, along with an explanation of why these skills are
also for wider communities and societies as a whole. The so important and how these skills may be fostered. •• openness to experience (open-mindedness)
ability of citizens to adapt, be resourceful, respect and •• conscientiousness (task performance)
•• emotional stability (emotional regulation)
•• extraversion (engaging with others)
•• agreeableness (collaboration).
These are the original terms used for the Big Five dimensions and are used in the remainder of this brochure. Terms in parentheses are used
1
in the OECD study due to their specific content in the project.
4 ©OECD ©OECD 501. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS 01. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS
Figure 1 Structure of Social and Emotional Skills The study will assess 15 social and emotional skills spread societal cohesion, while tolerance and cultural flexibility
across the 6 broad domains – the “Big Five” dimensions have growing social relevance in increasingly diverse and
and the compound skills. The project used a number of polarised societies. Respectfulness and co-operation are
criteria to decide which skills to include in the study. In both very relevant for children, and are highly regarded
particular, the skills included need to: skills in the workplace.
•• provide a broad and balanced coverage of the entire Curiosity is a critical skill that improves learning
domain of social and emotional skills outcomes and provides intrinsic incentives for lifelong
•• be predictive of success in a wide range of important self-development. Creativity/imagination is another skill
life outcomes and events that can bring strong benefits to both individuals and
•• be malleable and susceptible to possible policy societies, while critical thinking is gaining importance
interventions in a world full of false and misleading information.
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•• be appropriate for 10- and 15-year-olds Metacognition/self-reflection has been found to be one
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•• be comparable and relevant across different cultures, of the most fundamental skills for lifelong learning, along
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languages, social and school contexts with the ability to adjust to changing requirements and
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•• be relevant for the future.
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settings. Self-efficacy is a well-researched skill with high
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predictive validity and of special importance in school
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Table 1 presents short description of each of the skills, settings.
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accompanied by some typical skill-related behaviour.
The Big Five model has been extensively researched and
Achievement motivation and responsibility are predictive has accumulated a substantial bank of evidence around
TASK EMOTIONAL
PERFORMANCE REGULATION of a wide range of life outcomes, with special relevance it. Many research teams have independently found a
for school and work settings. Self-control and emotional similar five-factor structure of personality characteristics,
control have attracted substantial research attention and this consistency in results has contributed to the
in many fields, with evidence pointing to their strong widespread acceptance of the model. The Big Five model
relevance for children and how their lives will be shaped is also comprehensive enough to include the majority
CRITICAL THINKING
THE EMPATHY
after school. Stress resistance/resilience and optimism are of social and emotional skills studied to date. There is
COMPOUND highly predictive of a wide variety of positive future life also extensive evidence that the Big Five domains and
SKILLS
META-COGNITION ‘BIG FIVE’ COLLABORATION TRUST
DOMAINS outcomes, and are increasingly relevant skills for the sub-domains can be generalised across cultures and
SELF-EFFICACY COOPERATION
modern world. nations. Even though research has shown the presence
of some culture-specific constructs, the common Big Five
Sociability and empathy/compassion provide a basic set of structure is present in most cultures and languages around
social and emotional skills needed for effective functioning the world, not just in Western societies. Furthermore,
ENGAGING OPEN- and integration in work and personal environments. although the Big Five model was initially derived from
WITH OTHERS MINDEDNESS Assertiveness is a characteristic of leadership and is also research on adults, it has been well-documented that it is
related to entrepreneurship, while energy/activity allows suitable for describing differences in social and emotional
people to lead a more dynamic and eventful lifestyle. skills from childhood to old age
Trust is highly relevant for personal well-being and
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6 ©OECD ©OECD 701. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS 01. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS
Table 1 Description of the skills included in the OECD’s Study on Social and Emotional Skills
“BIG FIVE” “BIG FIVE”
SKILLS DESCRIPTION BEHAVIOURAL EXAMPLES SKILLS DESCRIPTION BEHAVIOURAL EXAMPLES
DOMAINS DOMAINS
Enjoys reaching a high level Likes to read books, to travel
of mastery in some activity. Interest in ideas and love to new destinations.
ACHIEVEMENT Setting high standards for oneself
(Openness to Experience)
of learning, understanding
ORIENTATION and working hard to meet them. Opposite: uninterested in career CURIOSITY Opposite: dislikes change,
and intellectual exploration;
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
development. an inquisitive mindset. is not interested in exploring
new products.
Arrives on time for appointments,
TASK PERFORMANCE
(Conscientiousness)
Able to honour commitments, gets chores done right away. Is open to different points of view, Have friends from different
RESPONSIBILITY
and be punctual and reliable. Opposite: doesn’t follow through TOLERANCE values diversity, is appreciative backgrounds.
on agreements/promises. of foreign people and cultures. Opposite: dislikes foreigners.
Doesn’t rush into things, Generating novel ways to do Has original insights, is good
Able to avoid distractions and focus is cautious and risk averse. at the arts.
or think about things through
SELF-CONTROL attention on the current task in CREATIVITY
Opposite: is prone to impulsive exploring, learning from failure, Opposite: seldom daydreams,
order to achieve personal goals.
shopping or binge drinking. insight and vision. dresses conventionally.
Finishes homework projects Skilled at teamwork,
or work once started. Able to approach others, both good at public speaking.
Persevering in tasks and activities SOCIABILITY friends and strangers, initiating and
PERSISTENCE Opposite: Gives up easily when
until they get done. maintaining social connections. Opposite: avoids large groups,
confronted with obstacles/
WITH OTHERS
ENGAGEMENT
prefers one-to-one communication.
(Extraversion)
distractions.
Takes charge in a class or team.
Is relaxed most of the time, Able to confidently voice opinions,
Effectiveness in modulating anxiety ASSERTIVENESS needs, and feelings, and exert social Opposite: waits for others to
performs well in high-pressure lead the way, keeps quiet when
and able to calmly solve problems influence.
EMOTION REGULATION
STRESS RESISTANCE situations. disagrees with others.
(is relaxed, handles
(Emotional stability)
stress well). Opposite: worries about things,
difficulties sleeping. Is always busy; works long hours.
Approaching daily life with energy,
ENERGY
excitement and spontaneity. Opposite: gets tired easily.
Positive and optimistic Generally in good mood.
OPTIMISM expectations for self and life Opposite: often feels sad,
in general. tends to feel insecure. Remains calm when facing
The strength of individuals’ beliefs unexpected events.
SELF-EFFICACY in their ability to execute tasks and
achieve goals. Opposite: avoids challenging
Controls emotions in situations
Effective strategies for regulating situations.
of conflict.
COMPOUND SKILLS
EMOTIONAL
temper, anger and irritation in the
CONTROL Opposite: gets upset easily;
face of frustrations. The ability to evaluate information Good at solving problems, at ease
is moody. CRITICAL
and interpret it through in new and unknown situations.
THINKING/
INDEPENDENCE
independent and unconstrained Opposite: dependent on others’
Kindness and caring for others Consoles a friend who is upset, analysis. guidance.
and their well-being that leads sympathises with the homeless.
EMPATHY
to valuing and investing in close Opposite: Tends to disregard other Good exam preparation strategies,
relationships. person’s feelings. Awareness of inner processes able to master skills more
COLLABORATION
and subjective experiences, such
(Agreeableness)
SELF-REFLECTION/ effectively.
Lends things to people, avoids as thoughts and feelings, and the
META-COGNITION Opposite: over- or under-estimates
Assuming that others generally being harsh or judgmental. ability to reflect on and articulate
TRUST have good intentions and forgiving such experiences. time needed for exam preparation
those who have done wrong. Opposite: is suspicious of people’s or project completion.
intentions.
Finds it easy to get along with
Living in harmony with others and people, respects decisions made
COOPERATION valuing interconnectedness among by a group.
all people. Opposite: Has a sharp tongue,
is not prone to compromises.
8 ©OECD ©OECD 902. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES
Table 2 Skills and outcomes of the three groups of high-school students in the United States
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL
COGNITIVE SKILLS OUTCOMES
Social and Emotional
SKILLS
HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS
LOW LOW
Skills Drive Critical
(WITHOUT GED DIPLOMA)
GED GRADUATES LOW HIGH
Life Outcomes REGULAR HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATES
HIGH HIGH
Improving school achievements
Cognitive skills, such as verbal or numerical proficiency, of social and emotional skills can prevent the effective
remain the most important predictor of academic use of cognitive skills. For example, three studies that
There is a large body of empirical evidence about the importance of social and emotional skills for performance. However, school achievement is also used nationally representative samples to investigate the
successfully navigating one’s life. dependent on a number of social and emotional skills relationships between the Big Five dimensions and years
such as perseverance, self-control, responsibility, curiosity of schooling show that conscientiousness and openness
There is a large body of empirical evidence about the General Educational Development (GED) programme and emotional stability. Some social and emotional skills to experience are significant and positive predictors of
importance of social and emotional skills for successfully (Heckman and Kautz, 2012). The GED was established are a crucial prerequisite for effective participation and the number of years of schooling (Figure 2).
navigating one’s life. They have been shown to to allow high-school dropouts in the United States to performance in school settings. In other words, low levels
influence experiences and achievements in all spheres obtain a high-school diploma by passing the GED test,
of people’s lives, whether it is academic achievement, an academic performance test that is shown to correlate Figure 2 The relationship between years of schooling and the Big Five dimensions
job performance, occupational attainment, health and closely with other achievement and intelligence tests.
longevity, or personal and societal well-being.2 In some
cases the predictive value of the Big Five dimensions It was found that GED graduates (students who drop 0.4
rivals that of long-established measures of cognitive skills. out from high school and then pass the GED test to
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.3
obtain a high-school diploma) have very similar levels
Social and emotional skills not only influence life of cognitive skills to regular high-school graduates but
0.2
outcomes directly (for example, good social competence poorer social and emotional skills. In this respect they
helps people successfully negotiate job interviews), but were actually much more similar to other high-school 0.1
also their persistent and cumulative effects on other dropouts (Table 2).
attributes, including cognitive skills. For example, good 0
social competence can help children adapt better to However, the most important finding was that their
the school environment, gain higher status among relatively poor social and emotional skills had a strong - 0.1
their peers and consequently achieve more in school. detrimental effect on a number of important academic,
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This greater school achievement translates later on work and life outcomes. In particular, in comparison with
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into better occupational status, health and general regular high-school graduates, GED graduates had much
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well-being. Likewise, being curious and open-minded lower graduation rates from college; shorter spells of
CO
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and having an active approach towards learning is an employment; lower hourly wages; higher divorce rates; Goldberg, Sweeney, Merenda et al. van Eijck and de Graaf German Socio-Economic Panel GSOEP
(1998) (2004) (2004-2008)
important prerequisite for developing and improving worse health; a higher propensity for smoking, drinking,
innate cognitive capacities. violent and criminal behaviour; and a greater chance
of being imprisoned. Obviously, cognitive skills cannot
Note: Strength of relationship is represented in form of standardized regression coefficients varying between -1 and 1, with 0 indicating
A good illustration of this interplay between personality compensate for a lack of social and emotional skills and absence of the relationship. Source: Almlund et al. (2011).
and cognitive skills is shown in an example from the both are needed for people to prosper in life.
See OECD (2015) and Kankaraš (2017) for extensive overviews of this evidence.
2
10 ©OECD ©OECD 1102. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES 02. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES
School grades are an important part of academic nearly as well as cognitive ability, and this association Among the Big Five characteristics, conscientiousness Social and emotional skills have an even greater
progress. Figure 3 summarises key findings from a study did not diminish even when controlling for cognitive appears to predict performance and wages across a broad effect on other aspects of a person’s job performance
on the relationship between the Big Five dimensions and ability. Openness to experience and agreeableness were range of occupational categories, whereas the predictive than employability and income. This is because job
course grades, both controlling for intelligence and not. also related to grades, although the magnitude of these power of other social and emotional skills may depend on performance is largely under the direct control of an
Importantly, conscientiousness predicted course grades relationships was smaller. the jobs being studied. For example, extraversion predicts individual, while income and employability are more
future earnings, employment status and performance for influenced by demographic and background effects.
Figure 3 Correlations of the Big Five dimensions and intelligence with course grades those in sales and managerial occupations but it is less Job performance can be broken down into three distinct
predictive of performance in technical/professional jobs. categories: task performance, organisational citizenship
Emotional stability is especially important in jobs with behaviour, and counterproductive work behaviour. Task
Raw correlation with GPA Partial correlation with GPA, after controlling for IQ tight deadlines and higher levels of stress. Openness to performance refers to behaviour that contributes
experience is more relevant in investigative and scientific towards producing goods or providing a service;
EMOTIONAL STABILITY positions, while agreeableness is critical when working in organisational citizenship behaviour refers to behaviour
AGREEABLENESS teams, in customer-relations or in the care sector. that benefits an organisation, such as persisting with
EXTRAVERSION a time-consuming job or providing personal support
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
While being important for all individuals, social and to co-workers; and counterproductive work behaviour
OPENNESS
emotional skills may be particularly important for people refers to intentional behaviour that is counter to the
with low levels of cognitive skills. A study on the cognitive interests of the organisation, such as absenteeism,
INTELLIGENCE
and social and emotional predictors of earnings later in insulting co-workers, stealing or engaging in alcohol or
- 0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
life found that although both sets of skills are important, drug use. Figure 5 shows the size of the relationship
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP for people with the lowest incomes, social and emotional between the Big Five dimensions and these different
skills are 2.5 to 4 times more important than cognitive aspects of job performance averaged across many
ability. One of the reasons for this is that people with studies. Conscientiousness, with the highest correlation
Note: Strength of relationship represents average correlation coefficients across studies. low social and emotional skills are much more likely to coefficients, was ranked top for all work performance
become unemployed than those with low cognitive skills. criteria.
Better skills for better job performance
Figure 5 Average correlation between Big Five dimensions and job performance dimensions
Cognitive skills, such as general intelligence, have long In fact, social and emotional skills can be equally, and in
been considered the most important determinants some cases even more important, than cognitive skills in
of employment success. More recently, however, determining future employment. For example, an analysis Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Emotional stability Openness
the empirical evidence is pointing towards social and on the effects on occupational outcomes found that 0.3
emotional skills also directly affecting a variety of job social and emotional skills are almost as influential as
outcomes, such as occupational status and income, on cognitive skills (Figure 4). 0.2
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
top of their indirect effect through educational outcomes.
0.1
Figure 4 Average effects of social and emotional skills on occupational outcomes
0
- 0.1
SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SKILLS
- 0.2
IQ
- 0.3
PARENTAL INCOME OVERALL JOB TASK ORGANISATIONAL COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR WORK BEHAVIOUR
SES
Note: Strength of relationship represents average correlation across studies. Source: Sackett and Walmsley (2014).
0 0.10 0.20 0.30
EFFECT SIZES
Note: Effect sizes are in form of standardized regression coefficients varying between -1 and 1, with 0 indicating absence of the effect; SES –
socio-economic status; IQ – measure of general intelligence. Source: Roberts et al. (2007).
12 ©OECD ©OECD 1302. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES 02. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES
Essential ingredients of personal well-being relationship – those with higher social and emotional skills problems when they are 16.
as 8-year-olds are much less likely to have behavioural
Educational and economic outcomes are important makers due to the growing realisation that traditional
aspects of an individual’s life. However, they can also be economic indicators do not provide a complete picture Figure 7 Proportion of teenagers with behavioural problems in relation to their cognitive and social and emotional skills
considered as a means to achieve more vital goals such as of the general well-being of individuals and societies.
good health, a good quality of life, and feeling fulfilled and Social and emotional skills, such as emotional stability, 40 % 40 %
happy. Over the last two decades, various quality-of-life optimism, tolerance and empathy, are inherently related
indicators have received increasing attention from policy to personal well-being and general satisfaction with life.
30 % 30 %
Health
20 % 20 %
Broadly speaking, health-related life outcomes can be are strongly linked to a wide variety of mental health
classified as pertaining to mental health (e.g. depression outcomes. For example, the combined results of
and other psychopathologies), health behaviours numerous studies into the relationship between the Big 10 % 10 %
(engaging in health-related activities such as exercise Five dimensions and health outcomes have found that
and substance abuse) and physical health (e.g. fitness, emotional stability, conscientiousness and agreeableness
0% 0%
diagnosed physical diseases and, ultimately, mortality). have particularly strong relevance for health (Figure 6).
Low High Low High
There is little doubt that social and emotional skills
COGNITIVE SKILLS SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL SKILLS
Figure 6 Average correlation estimates for life outcome categories and each Big Five factor
Source: OECD (2015).
Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional stability Openness
0.3 Subjective well-being
0.25
Subjective well-being can be defined as having a good social and emotional skills and life satisfaction than
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.2 mental state, including all of the various evaluations, between cognitive skills and life satisfaction (Figure 8).
positive and negative, that people make of their lives. Note in the graphs that the horizontal line on the left
0.15
Examining the effects of social and emotional skills on shows virtually no relation between life satisfaction and
0.1
future life outcomes for middle- and high-school children cognitive ability, but the quite sharp upward line on the
largely mirrored findings obtained from adult samples, right shows a relatively strong positive relationship with
0.05 which suggest a much stronger relationship between social and emotional skills.
0
Figure 8 Likeliness of feeling very happy in relation to cognitive and social and emotional skills
- 0.05
OVERALL HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH HEALTH BEHAVIOURS PHYSICAL HEALTH 50 % 50 %
40 % 40 %
Note: Strength of relationship represents average correlation across studies. Source: Strickhouser, Zell and Krizan (2017).
30 % 30 %
Given that social and emotional skills have skills and physical health outcomes. For example,
established links to mental health and health- Big Five dimensions have been found to be positively
20 % 20 %
related behaviour, which in turn affect physical correlated with longevity and negatively related to
health, we can expect a relationship between these obesity.
10 % 10 %
Behavioural problems
0% 0%
Low High Low High
One of the most important ways in which social and example, Figure 7 shows that cognitive ability at the
emotional skills benefit both children and adults is in age of 8 has a relatively weak negative relationship with COGNITIVE SKILLS SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL SKILLS
regulating behavioural problems such as aggression, behavioural problems at the age of 16, whereas social and
violence, theft and the use of illegal substances. For emotional skills clearly have a much stronger negative Source: OECD (2015).
14 ©OECD ©OECD 1502. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES
The Impact of
Emotional stability seems to be the most relevant of the challenging, however, because well-being has also been
Big Five dimensions for life satisfaction. Figure 9 also found to promote positive personality changes (among
suggests remarkably similar strength of relationships for other factors) that can simultaneously improve people’s
Specific Social and
two quality-of-life outcomes: life and job satisfaction. social and emotional skills and their quality of life.
Establishing the exact cause of these relationships is
Figure 9 Average correlations of Big Five dimensions with life and job satisfaction
Emotional stability Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness
Emotional Skills
0.4
on Life Outcomes
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.3
0.2
0.1
The Big Five dimensions are a comprehensive yet simple overview of key social and emotional skills.
Information on individual social and emotional skills is The following sections look in greater depth at the
0
more valuable as it is more precise and as such more useful specific skills within the Big Five skill categories and at
for signposting the way towards effective interventions, compound skills.
JOB SATISFACTION LIFE SATISFACTION
giving teachers and parents better information about
where they should target any intervention.
Note: Strength of relationship represents average correlation across studies. Source: Judge, Heller and Mount (2002).
Conscientiousness – getting things done, as required and in time
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
ACHIEVEMENT SELF-CONTROL RESPONSIBILITY PERSISTENCE
MOTIVATION
Ability to control impulses, Following through with Persevere in tasks
Setting high standards for delay gratification and promises to others and activities, hard
oneself and working hard maintain concentration to distract
to meet them
Conscientiousness includes a range of skills that determine all aspects of conscientiousness are equally useful
the propensity to be self-controlled, responsible towards predictors.
others, hardworking, persistent, orderly, virtuous and
rule abiding. Most published research has either focused Figure 10 presents the relationships between various
on the broad dimension, or has aggregated individual conscientiousness skills and high-school and college
skill-level information into an overall conscientiousness grades. Achievement orientation has the strongest
score. However, some studies do show information on relationship with grades at both the high-school and
the relationship between individual skills and outcomes, college levels, while orderliness has less relevance,
and evidence is emerging from these studies that not especially for college grades.
16 ©OECD ©OECD 1703. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES 03. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES
Figure 10 Relationship between conscientiousness-related skills and college and high-school grades Conscientiousness skills are also associated with health- negative relationship with drug use, suicide and violence.
related behaviours (Figure 12). For example, self-control Achievement orientation, virtue, discipline and orderliness
is associated with a lower likelihood of substance use, are also negatively associated with unhealthy behaviour.
College grades High school grades risky driving and violence. Responsibility has a strong
0.25
Figure 12 Relationship between Conscientiousness-related skills and health-related behaviours
0.2
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
Achievement orientation Responsibility Orderliness Self-control Discipline Virtue
0.15 0.1
0
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.1
- 0.1
0.05
- 0.2
0
- 0.3
RESPONSIBILITY ACHIEVEMENT DISCIPLINE SELF-CONTROL ORDERLINESS
ORIENTATION
- 0.4
EXCESSIVE DRUG USE UNHEALTHY RISKY DRIVING RISKY SEX SUICIDE TOBACCO USE VIOLENCE
ALCOHOL USE EATING
Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Noftle and Robins (2007).
Figure 11 presents the relationships between job dedication, which is a dimension of organisational Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Bogg and Roberts (2004).
conscientiousness and its constituent skills and various job citizenship. Responsibility was also strongly negatively
performance criteria (task performance, job dedication and correlated with counterproductive work behaviour Perhaps the most widely researched social and emotional linked to lower income, low socio-economic status and
counterproductive behaviour). Achievement orientation such as absenteeism, insulting co-workers, stealing, or skill in early childhood studies is self-control. Delay of more self-reported financial difficulties in adult life;
and responsibility were substantially correlated with task engaging in alcohol or drug use. gratification at the age of 4 (an indicator of self-control) on the other hand, better self-control was associated
performance; they were even more highly correlated with was associated with higher levels of cognitive and with better physical health in adulthood. Children who
self-regulatory competence and coping at the age of exhibited greater self-control were also less likely to
Figure 11 Relationship between conscientiousness-related skills and job performance 16, including higher scores in college entrance exams. be dependent on substances in adulthood, including
Ten-year-olds who exhibited high levels of self-control tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and street or prescription
were also shown to have greater academic attainment drugs. These associations were independent of factors
Achievement orientation Responsibility Orderliness Self-control four years later. Lack of self-control in childhood is also such as intelligence and socio-economic status.
0.5
0.4
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
- 0.1
- 0.2
- 0.3
- 0.4
TASK PERFORMANCE JOB DEDICATION COUNTERPRODUCTIVITY
Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Dudley et al. (2006).
18 ©OECD ©OECD 1903. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES 03. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES
Openness to experience – exploring the world of things and ideas classes of jobs and industries, a fact that might be lost aesthetic interests are critical for work in art fields, and
when examining a more generalised relationship with innovativeness and creativity are especially beneficial in
job performance. For example, intellectual curiosity entrepreneurial settings.
OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE is important in scientific or investigative professions,
CURIOSITY CREATIVITY CULTURAL FLEXIBILITY/
TOLERANCE
Extraversion – enjoying and exceling in the company of others
Interest in ideas and love of learning, Generating novel ideas or products
and intellectual exploration Is open to different points of view,
values diversity
EXTRAVERSION
Openness to experience is regarded as one of the key relevant to the development of cognitive skills. In
domains for intrinsic motivation to learn and develop particular, intellectual curiosity, creativity and intellectual ENERGY/ACTIVITY ASSERTIVENESS SOCIABILITY
one’s potential. As such, it is especially relevant in the efficiency are considered to be one of the most important Sustaining vigorous activity Enjoying leadership, dominance Preference for social interactions
throughout a day and assertive behaviours
school context. Openness to experience concerns an drivers of intellectual development and lifelong learning.
individual’s preference for variety and novelty, either in Figure 13 shows the relationships between various
the form of original intellectual stimuli (a sub-domain openness-to-experience skills and school grades in Extraversion represents the tendency to engage and enjoy skills with task and citizenship performance. It shows that
called intellect, e.g. new ideas, new theories), or in the both high school and college. Creativity, curiosity and friendly social interactions, to attract attention, dominate activity is related to task performance, while assertiveness
form of novel experiential stimuli (a sub-domain called tolerance have substantial relationships with grades at in relationships and to sustain vigour throughout the (i.e. dominance) is more related to organisational
culture, e.g. aesthetic and cultural interests). Skills both the high-school and college levels. day. Figure 14 presents the relationships of extraversion citizenship.
belonging to the intellect sub-domain are especially
Figure 14 Relationship between extraversion-related skills and task performance and organisational citizenship
Figure 13 Relationship between openness-related skills and college and high-school grades
Activity Assertiveness Sensation-seeking Sociability
College grades High school grades 0.2
0.3
0.15
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.25
0.1
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.2 0.05
0.15 0
0.1 - 0.05
0.05 - 0.1
TASK PERFORMANCE ORGANISATIONAL CITIZENSHIP
0
AESTHETIC INTERESTS INTELLECTUAL CREATIVITY TOLERANCE
CURIOSITY Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Judge et al. (2013).
Another outcome highly relevant to extraversion is influential of overall company performance. Research has
Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Dudley et al. (2006). leadership – the process by which an individual, group established that, of the Big Five dimensions, extraversion
or organisation outlines group goals and intentionally is the best predictor of leadership outcomes, while among
Openness-related skills are found to be related to and cultural tolerance were more related to these influences the behaviour of others in order to achieve the individual social and emotional skills, dominance
adaptability to change, which can be broken down into adaptability criteria than aesthetic interests were. these goals. Organisations invest considerable resources (assertiveness) and sociability correlate most strongly.
criteria including interpersonal adaptability, adjustment into leadership development as these skills are highly
to new living environments, creative performance and It should also be noted that various sub-domains of
coping with organisational change. Ingenuity, curiosity openness may have strong relevance for particular
20 ©OECD ©OECD 2103. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES 03. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES
Agreeableness – concern for the well-being of others Emotional stability – having a calm and positive emotionality
AGREEABLENESS EMOTIONAL STABILITY
EMPATHY CO-OPERATION TRUST STRESS RESISTANCE EMOTIONAL CONTROL OPTIMISM
Perspective taking and empathic Living in harmony with others Assuming that others generally have Effectiveness in modulating anxiety Keeps their emotions and temper Positive expectations for self and life
concern for others well-being good intentions and response to stress under control
Agreeable individuals place greater value on their Agreeableness skills do not correlate with grades, but Emotional stability – or its negative form, neuroticism/ this domain varies, and in relation to different outcomes.
interpersonal relationships, are more co-operative studies showed that agreeableness is an important negative emotionality – characterises individual A study of school absences and assessed social and
and helpful, and are (as a consequence) better liked by predictor of school absences. Figure 15 shows the differences in the frequency, variability, intensity and emotional skills found that the broad factor of emotional
their peers. However, evidence suggests that, despite relationships of agreeableness skills with task performance quality of emotions. At the level of individual social and stability, and the separately measured skills of optimism
its positive social benefits, agreeableness is negatively and organisational citizenship. The correlations with task emotional skills, models of negative emotionality typically and emotional control, were consistently negatively
related to earnings. This may be due to the fact that performance are not large but co-operation and positive differentiate between three types of negative affect: related with school absences.
agreeable people are more likely to select service and emotions (i.e. consideration) have substantial correlations fear/anxiety, sadness/depression and irritation/anger.
nursing occupations where average incomes are lower. with organisational citizenship. Of these, the tendency to experience anxiety and fear Figure 16 shows the relationships between individual
tends to be most central. emotional stability skills and task performance and
Figure 15 Relationship between agreeableness-related skills and task performance and organisational citizenship organisational citizenship. As with agreeableness, the
As with conscientiousness, emotional stability seems to correlations with task performance are not large but
be widely important across a range of life outcomes. angry hostility and optimism have substantial correlations
Altruism Co-operation Modesty Stralghtforwardness Tender-mindednes Warmth Positive emotions Trust But here again the importance of individual skills within with organisational citizenship.
0.3
Figure 16 Relationship between emotional stability-related skills and task performance and organisational citizenship
0.25
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.2
Emotional stability Optimism Emotional control Angry hostility
0.15
0.25
0.1 0.2
0.05 0.15
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.1
0
0.05
- 0.05 0
TASK PERFORMANCE ORGANISATIONAL CITIZENSHIP - 0.05
- 0.1
- 0.15
Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Judge et al. (2013).
- 0.2
- 0.25
- 0.1
TASK PERFORMANCE ORGANISATIONAL CITIZENSHIP
Note: Strength of relationships represents average correlation across studies. Source: Judge et al. (2013).
Emotional stability skills are found to be the most and mental health in later life were also relatively strong.
predictive of mental health. Optimism has the highest For example, anxiousness and withdrawal at the age of
relation to life satisfaction scores, while emotional control 8 were predictive of mood, anxiety and phobic disorders
and resilience are other important correlates of personal at the ages of 16 and 21, even after taking into account
well-being. Links between childhood emotional stability other social, childhood and family factors.
22 ©OECD ©OECD 2303. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES 03. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES
Compound social and emotional skills Figure 17 Relationship between self-efficacy and work-related performance
COMPOUND SKILLS Low complexity Moderate complexity High complexity
SELF-EFFICACY METACOGNITION CRITICAL THINKING
Beliefs in one’s capabilities to execute Awareness and regulation of inner Thinking for yourself; grounding
tasks and achieve goals processes and subjective experiences beliefs on critical analysis through
independent thought
In addition to the Big Five dimensions and their aspects of a number of individual skills and characteristics.
sub-dimensions/individual skills, there has also been Examples include self-efficacy, metacognition, critical
considerable research into a number of other social thinking, self-esteem and core self-evaluations. The main
and emotional skills outside of the Big Five framework. advantage of compound skills lies in their relevance to
These are sometimes called “compound” personality important life and work outcomes as they combine
characteristics, since they are found to be combinations of several useful skills into an overall composite.
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Self-efficacy
STRENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP
Self-efficacy represents the strength of individuals’ beliefs difficulty. As such, it has widespread influence on all
in their ability to perform tasks and achieve goals. It aspects of a person’s life. Self-efficacy affects students’ Note: Strength of relationship represents average correlation across studies. Source: Stajkovic and Luthans, 1998.
is found to be related to the Big Five dimensions of academic efforts and performance, since those with
conscientiousness, emotional stability and, to a lesser high self-efficacy are more likely to take the initiative in Metacognition
degree, extraversion, and can be seen as a (partial) their own study, actively participate in classes and take
composite of the achievement orientation, optimism a hands-on approach to learning. Metacognition represents the ability to accurately set of mental “tools” that can be deployed to achieve
and dominance/confidence aspects of these categories. interpret and regulate cognitive processes such as their goals.
Career choice, job attitudes, training proficiency and job learning, thinking, perceiving and memorising. It is similar
The importance of self-efficacy lies in the fact that performance can all also be determined by self-efficacy. to self-awareness, a skill belonging to the openness to Metacognitive skills and strategies have attracted lots of
people’s performance in various life situations is It influences workers’ learning and goal-setting and their experience domain, in that it involves self-representation attention in the fields of education due to their role in
influenced not only by their actual abilities, but also by level of effort and persistence in performing or learning and self-monitoring of cognitive processes. But it also the development of self-regulated learning. Learning to
their belief in the strength and adequacy of those abilities. tasks. Self-efficacy is found to be a moderately strong includes the ability to control and direct cognition, and learn is considered to be one of the key capabilities for
In fact, people’s beliefs in their capabilities can often be a predictor of work-related performance, depending on in this aspect it is similar to some of the skills related to effective functioning in the modern age (for example,
better predictor of their performance than the actual level task complexity – self-efficacy was especially important the domain of conscientiousness, such as self-control. it is listed as one of the main competences in the
of their capabilities, since these beliefs determine how for performance in less complex tasks (Figure 17). Metacognition not only regulates mental processes but European Union list of key competences for the 21st
and to what degree they use their knowledge and skills. High self-efficacy is also associated with greater job also helps to maintain motivation, improve effort and century). A large number of studies have found a positive
Research indicates that the optimal level of self-efficacy satisfaction and reduced workforce turnover. persistence, avoid distraction, and alleviate obstacles. relationship between the use of metacognitive strategies
is slightly above actual ability, thus allowing individuals People with good metacognitive skills are aware of their and academic performance. In addition, empirical findings
to choose challenging but still manageable tasks that Gender differences in expectations of self-efficacy strong and weak points, better able to evaluate their show that teaching children metacognitive strategies has
promote learning and further development. influence the career choices of young women, with capacity in relation to the task at hand, and have a better medium-sized to large effects on school performance.
women who are highly competent in maths or science
Self-efficacy affects people’s capacity to deal effectively often choosing other career tracks due to low self-efficacy Critical thinking
and competently with challenges, as well as their perceptions about their competence.
motivation to initiate actions and persist in the face of Though social and emotional skills are often called interpret it in a new context and find solutions to novel
“non-cognitive skills”, the term is an obvious misnomer problems based on existing knowledge. It encompasses
since every aspect of mental functioning is based on cognitive capacities to use the rules of logic and cost-
some form of information processing and cognition. One benefit analysis, think strategically, and apply rules to new
good example of a compound skill that relies heavily on situations to solve problems. However, critical thinking
both cognitive and personality components is critical also incorporates aspects of the Big Five dimension
thinking. It represents an ability to reflect on information, of openness to experience, such as independence
24 ©OECD ©OECD 2503. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES
(autonomy) and unconventionality, which represent in. The role of educational systems is thus increasingly
the driving factors behind the use of cognitive skills for seen as one helping children become lifelong learners,
purposes of critical inquiry. individuals who are autonomous and adaptable, able to
Social and
critically reflect and understand the evolving reality. A
There is a consensus that critical thinking is an critical stance is also seen as an increasingly relevant
increasingly important skill that should be cultivated skill in a world with more and more misinformation, the
in formal education. The ability to act independently unexamined acceptance of which can lead to dangerous
and reflect critically upon a given reality is especially
important in the fast-changing environment we live
consequences for both society and individuals.
Emotional Skills
are Learnable
Social and emotional skills develop and change with age, and are affected by a combined influence of
biological and environmental factors, life events, and changes in self-perception.
On average, levels of conscientiousness, emotional other hand, activity (another aspect of extraversion)
stability, social dominance (one aspect of extraversion) slowly decreases with age, while openness to experience
and agreeableness generally increase with age. On the shows an inverted U relationship with age (Figure 18).
Figure 18 Cumulative average-level changes in personality throughout the life span
Activity Social dominance
1.2 1.2
1 1
TOTAL LIFETIME CHANGE
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0 0
- 0.2 - 0.2
10 13 20 25 35 45 55 65 75 80 10 13 20 25 35 45 55 65 75 80
AGE AGE
Agreeableness Conscientiousness
1.2 1.2
1 1
TOTAL LIFETIME CHANGE
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0 0
- 0.2 - 0.2
10 13 20 25 35 45 55 65 75 80 10 13 20 25 35 45 55 65 75 80
AGE AGE
26 ©OECD ©OECD 2704. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ARE LEARNABLE 04. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ARE LEARNABLE
Figure 19 Long-term consequences of participation in the Perry Preschool Program
Emotional Stability Openness to experience
1.2 1.2
No-programme group Programme group
1 1
TOTAL LIFETIME CHANGE
0.8 0.8
GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL (FEMALES)
0.2 0.2 EARNED $20K+ AT AGE 40
0 0
EMPLOYED AT AGE 40
- 0.2 - 0.2
10 13 20 25 35 45 55 65 75 80 10 13 20 25 35 45 55 65 75 80 RAISED THEIR OWN CHILDREN (MALES)
AGE AGE
USING SEDATIVES OR SLEEPING PILLS AT AGE 40
EVER SENTENCED TO PRISON BY AGE 40
Note: Total lifetime change represents cumulative size of change over life course. Source: Roberts, Walton and Viechtbauer (2006). ARRESTED 5+ TIMES BY AGE 40
In addition, social and emotional skills are found to found to actually decline from late childhood into 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
become increasingly stable during adulthood. This means early adolescence, and then increase rapidly from late
that, early in life, children’s social and emotional skills may adolescence into early adulthood. Emotional stability also
Source: Schweinhart et al. (2005).
fluctuate substantially, while in later life this fluctuation appears to decline in adolescence, before recovering later
decreases with age. Considerable dips and swings in in life. Clearly, childhood and adolescence are key periods Due to the lack of relevant intervention programmes Likewise, a very short, 2 week clinical intervention led
the levels of social and emotional skills can occur from for the development of social and emotional skills and for adults it is difficult to infer how malleable these skills to significant improvement in participants’ emotional
childhood to adolescence. Specifically, agreeableness, should be a focus for the development of these skills. are in later years. However, the evidence indicates that stability; importantly, the changes were not affected by
conscientiousness and openness to experience are continuing to learn after finishing formal education, age, indicating that people of different ages are equally
including learning in the workplace, can have a susceptible to these kinds of interventions.
significant influence on people’s social and emotional
Interventions and change skills. Furthermore, recent studies on the effectiveness Important life events, such as marriage or getting
of cognitive and clinical interventions indicate that a first job, can have a substantial influence on social
As noted above, social and emotional skills are malleable rather than a general skillset, are shown to have strong substantial changes in social and emotional skills are and emotional skills. For example, people in stable
and especially during the early years. This leads to the intervention effects. possible, even after relatively short treatment periods, relationships have been shown to become less neurotic
key question: can systematic interventions change the and also across lifespans. For example, a relatively short, and more agreeable than those whose relationships have
social skills of children in desired directions? The most An often-cited example of an intervention successfully 16 week programme aimed at increasing the cognitive ended. Likewise, starting a first job was found to increase
comprehensive study to date that aimed to answer this improving social and emotional skills is the Perry ability of older adults (aged from 60 to 94 years old) conscientiousness, while military training decreased
question evaluated the results of 213 school-based Preschool Program. This was a program for disadvantaged promoted substantial and relatively lasting increases in agreeableness.
social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes, 3- and 4-year-olds with an intelligence quotient (IQ, a openness to experience compared to the control group.
involving more than 270 000 primary and secondary measure of general cognitive abilities) below 85 at the
school children (Durlak et al., 2011). Overall, the study start of the study. The children were taught various social
found the programmes had a moderately strong effect skills and how to work with others. The programme also
on the development of social and emotional skills when included weekly home visits that focused on improving
comparing those who received the programmes with child-parent interactions. The intervention lasted two
those who did not, thus demonstrating that interventions years and then both the treatment and control groups
to improve the social and emotional skills of school were followed until the age of 40. It turned out that the
children can be effective. intervention did not have any lasting effect on children’s
cognitive skills. However, results showed persisting
As might be expected, the effectiveness of intervention is improvements in a variety of measures of social and
found to largely depend on the quality of the intervention emotional skills of children in the treatment group, which
programme. Those interventions that used a coherent lead to substantively better life outcomes in a variety of
and co-ordinated set of activities, with a focus on the areas (Figure 19).
development of particular social and emotional skills
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