Social and Emotional Skills

Well-being, connectedness
and success

©OECD
 FOREWORD

Contents Foreword
Foreword 3 Education systems need to prepare students for

when fast gets really fast, being slow to adapt makes

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

make progress visible, and to address shortcomings.

can mean the scourge of vulnerable and insecure work,
and life without prospects.

We know that preparing students with technical or

academic skills alone will not be enough for them to
achieve success, connectedness and well-being whatever

skills, such as perseverance, empathy, mindfulness,

courage or leadership are central to this. We are born

Conclusions 30 social capital, a sense of belonging to our family or other understand where and how success is being achieved,

Andreas Schleicher

©OECD ©OECD 3
 INTRODUCTION
Introduction
“Social and emotional skills” refer to the abilities to
numeracy because they mainly concern how people
change and development through formal and informal
outcomes throughout one’s life.
In an increasingly fast-changing and diverse world, the
environments means people need to engage with new
change call for the ability to act independently and to
adjust to changes on-the-go.
adjust to their environment and how much they achieve
important not only for the well-being of individuals, but
4 ©OECD
Measuring
Social and
responsibility is increasingly becoming the hallmark
Emotional Skills
of a well-functioning society. Increasing ideological
for tolerance and respect, empathy and generosity, and
the ability to co-operate in order to achieve and protect
the common good.
increasing awareness of their malleability, and their Each of the dimensions or categories encompasses a
renewed interest from policy makers and researchers.
orientation, reliability, self-control and persistence.
groupings also ensure systematic, comprehensive
be carried out over a three-year period, with the main
and have shown not only that these skills are related
to important life outcomes, but also that they can be
assessed meaningfully within and across cultural and
provide a general outline of how these skills should be
organised (Figure 1)
categories that can be split into narrower, lower-order understanding certain aspects of behaviour and in many
skills included in the study are set out in the following 1
so important and how these skills may be fostered. •
•
•
•
•
©OECD 5
 01. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS 01. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS

Figure 1 societal cohesion, while tolerance and

have growing social relevance in increasingly diverse and
and are
criteria to decide which skills to include in the study. In both very relevant for children, and are highly regarded
skills in the workplace.

• provide a broad and balanced coverage is a critical skill that improves learning

• be in a wide range of important self-development. is another skill

life outcomes and events
• be malleable and susceptible to possible policy is gaining importance
in a world full of false and misleading information.
AC
RE

HI

• has been found to be one

EV
SP
SE

ON
LF
PE

EM

E
• be comparable of the most fundamental skills for lifelong learning, along

NC
-C
RS

SIB

EN

TA
ON
IST

L
TM

RO
ILI

SIS
TR
EN

TY

NT
OT
OL

RE
• be . is a well-researched skill with high
CE

CO
IV

SS

SM
AT

AL
RE

MI
I

ON
ON

ST

TI
Table 1

I
OP

OT
EM
accompanied by some typical skill-related behaviour.

and
TASK EMOTIONAL
PERFORMANCE REGULATION of a wide range of life outcomes, with special relevance it. Many research teams have independently found a
and
control and this consistency in results has contributed to the

relevance for children and how their lives will be shaped is also comprehensive enough to include the majority
CRITICAL THINKING
THE EMPATHY
and are
COMPOUND
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.

and provide a basic set of structure is present in most cultures and languages around

ENGAGING OPEN- and integration in work and personal environments.

WITH OTHERS MINDEDNESS research on adults, it has been well-documented that it is
related to entrepreneurship, while allows
skills from childhood to old age
CU

is highly relevant for personal well-being and

RI
TO
Y

OS
ES
T

LE
ILI

CR

IT
EN

R
AB

EA

Y
AN
IV

TI
CI

RT

C
V
SO

E
SE

IT
Y
RG

Y
AS

E
EN

6 ©OECD ©OECD 7
 01. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS 01. MEASURING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS

Table 1

“BIG FIVE” “BIG FIVE”

SKILLS DESCRIPTION BEHAVIOURAL EXAMPLES SKILLS DESCRIPTION BEHAVIOURAL EXAMPLES
DOMAINS DOMAINS

ACHIEVEMENT

(Openness to Experience)
ORIENTATION CURIOSITY

OPEN-MINDEDNESS
TASK PERFORMANCE
(Conscientiousness)

RESPONSIBILITY
TOLERANCE

SELF-CONTROL CREATIVITY

PERSISTENCE SOCIABILITY

WITH OTHERS
ENGAGEMENT

(Extraversion)
ASSERTIVENESS
EMOTION REGULATION

STRESS RESISTANCE
(Emotional stability)

ENERGY

OPTIMISM

SELF-EFFICACY

COMPOUND SKILLS
EMOTIONAL
CONTROL
CRITICAL
THINKING/
INDEPENDENCE

EMPATHY
COLLABORATION
(Agreeableness)

SELF-REFLECTION/
META-COGNITION
TRUST

COOPERATION

8 ©OECD ©OECD 9
 02. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES

Table 2

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

remain the most important predictor of academic

performance. However, school achievement is also

such as perseverance, self-control, responsibility, curiosity

the number of years of schooling (Figure 2).

to allow high-school dropouts in the United States to

of people’s lives, whether it is academic achievement, an academic performance test that is shown to correlate Figure 2
closely with other achievement and intelligence tests.
longevity, or personal and societal well-being. In some
0.4

STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.3

Social and emotional skills not only influence life

0.2

were actually much more similar to other high-school 0.1

dropouts (Table 2).
0

the school environment, gain higher status among - 0.1

Y
S

S
ES

ES

ES

ES

ES

ES

ES

ES

ES
IT

IT

IT
O

O
IL

IL

IL
SI

SI

SI
N

SN

EN

SN

EN

SN

EN
AB

AB

AB
ER

ER

ER
N

N
U

U
BL

BL

BL
PE

PE

PE
ST

ST

ST
AV

AV

AV
O

O
EA

EA

EA
O

O
TI

TI

TI
TR

AL

TR

AL

TR

AL
EN

EN

EN
RE

RE

RE
into better occupational status, health and general

N
EX

EX

EX
AG

AG

AG
I

I
O

O
SC

SC

SC
TI

TI

TI
N

N
O

O
CO

CO

CO
well-being. Likewise, being curious and open-minded

EM

EM

EM
Goldberg, Sweeney, Merenda et al. van Eijck and de Graaf German Socio-Economic Panel GSOEP
(1998) (2004) (2004-2008)

Source
both are needed for people to prosper in life.

10 ©OECD ©OECD 11
 02. 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 Social and emotional skills have an even greater
progress. Figure 3 appears to predict performance and wages across a broad

course grades, both controlling for intelligence and not. also related to grades, although the magnitude of these performance is largely under the direct control of an
individual, while income and employability are more
future earnings, employment status and performance for
Figure 3

and
performance refers to behaviour that contributes

EMOTIONAL STABILITY

AGREEABLENESS

EXTRAVERSION

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
While being important for all individuals, social and
OPENNESS
interests of the organisation, such as absenteeism,
INTELLIGENCE

- 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
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
aspects of job performance averaged across many
ability. One of the reasons for this is that people with

criteria.
Better skills for better job performance
Figure 5

been considered the most important determinants

of employment success. More recently, however, Extraversion Agreeableness Openness

0.3

(Figure 4). 0.2

STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.1

Figure 4
0

- 0.1

- 0.2
IQ

- 0.3

PARENTAL INCOME OVERALL JOB TASK ORGANISATIONAL COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR WORK BEHAVIOUR

SES

Source
0 0.10 0.20 0.30

EFFECT SIZES

Source

12 ©OECD ©OECD 13
 02. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES 02. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES

Essential ingredients of personal well-being problems when they are 16.

as 8-year-olds are much less likely to have behavioural
Educational and economic outcomes are important
aspects of an individual’s life. However, they can also be economic indicators do not provide a complete picture Figure 7
considered as a means to achieve more vital goals such as
40 % 40 %

30 % 30 %

Health
20 % 20 %
are strongly linked to a wide variety of mental health

10 % 10 %

Five dimensions and health outcomes have found that

0% 0%
(Figure 6).
Low High Low High

COGNITIVE SKILLS SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL SKILLS

Figure 6
Source

Extraversion Agreeableness Openness

0.3

0.25
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP

0.2 (Figure 8).

0.15

0.1
future life outcomes for middle- and high-school children

0.05

0
Figure 8
- 0.05

OVERALL HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH HEALTH BEHAVIOURS PHYSICAL HEALTH 50 % 50 %

40 % 40 %
Source

30 % 30 %
Given that social and emotional skills have
established links to mental health and health-
20 % 20 %
related behaviour, which in turn affect physical correlated with longevity and negatively related to
obesity.
10 % 10 %

Behavioural problems
0% 0%
Low High Low High
One of the most important ways in which social and Figure 7
COGNITIVE SKILLS SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL SKILLS

behavioural problems at the age of 16, whereas social and

Source

14 ©OECD ©OECD 15
 02. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS DRIVE CRITICAL LIFE OUTCOMES

The Impact of
challenging, however, because well-being has also been
Figure 9 also

Figure 9
Specific Social and
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness
Emotional Skills
0.4
on Life Outcomes
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
more valuable as it is more precise and as such more useful
compound skills.

Source

Conscientiousness – getting things done, as required and in time

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

ACHIEVEMENT SELF-CONTROL RESPONSIBILITY PERSISTENCE

MOTIVATION

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
on the broad dimension, or has aggregated individual

college levels, while orderliness has less relevance,

and evidence is emerging from these studies that not especially for college grades.

16 ©OECD ©OECD 17
 03. 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
related behaviours (Figure 12)
is associated with a lower likelihood of substance use,
College grades High school grades

0.25
Figure 12

0.2
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP

Responsibility Orderliness Self-control Discipline Virtue

0.15 0.1

STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP
0.1

- 0.1

0.05
- 0.2

0
- 0.3
RESPONSIBILITY ACHIEVEMENT DISCIPLINE ORDERLINESS
ORIENTATION
- 0.4

EXCESSIVE DRUG USE UNHEALTHY RISKY DRIVING RISKY SEX SUICIDE TOBACCO USE VIOLENCE
ALCOHOL USE EATING
Source

Figure 11 presents the relationships between Source

correlated with counterproductive work behaviour linked to lower income, low socio-economic status and

engaging in alcohol or drug use.

was associated with higher levels of cognitive and
self-regulatory competence and coping at the age of
Figure 11 be dependent on substances in adulthood, including

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

- 0.1

- 0.2

- 0.3

- 0.4

TASK PERFORMANCE JOB DEDICATION COUNTERPRODUCTIVITY

Source

18 ©OECD ©OECD 19
 03. 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

OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE

CURIOSITY CREATIVITY CULTURAL FLEXIBILITY/

TOLERANCE
Extraversion – enjoying and exceling in the company of others

EXTRAVERSION
relevant to the development of cognitive skills. In
ENERGY/ACTIVITY ASSERTIVENESS SOCIABILITY

drivers of intellectual development and lifelong learning.

individual’s preference for variety and novelty, either in Figure 13

both the high-school and college levels.

belonging to the intellect sub-domain are especially
Figure 14
Figure 13

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 Source

Openness-related skills are found to be related to
adaptability to change, which can be broken down into
criteria including interpersonal adaptability, adjustment
Source
is the best predictor of leadership outcomes, while among
and cultural tolerance were more related to these
into leadership development as these skills are highly
It should also be noted that various sub-domains of
openness may have strong relevance for particular

20 ©OECD ©OECD 21
 03. 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

under control

interpersonal relationships, are more co-operative studies showed that agreeableness is an important
predictor of school absences. Figure 15 shows the
their peers. However, evidence suggests that, despite

related with school absences.

agreeable people are more likely to select service and
Figure 16
tends to be most central. emotional stability skills and task performance and
Figure 15

be widely important across a range of life outcomes.

Altruism Modesty Warmth Trust

0.3

Figure 16
0.25
STRENGHT OF RELATIONSHIP

0.2

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
Source
- 0.2

- 0.25

- 0.1

TASK PERFORMANCE ORGANISATIONAL CITIZENSHIP

Source

Emotional stability skills are found to be the most

and resilience are other important correlates of personal

other social, childhood and family factors.

22 ©OECD ©OECD 23
 03. 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

COMPOUND SKILLS Low complexity Moderate complexity High complexity

SELF-EFFICACY METACOGNITION CRITICAL THINKING

considerable research into a number of other social

advantage of compound skills lies in their relevance to
important life and work outcomes as they combine
several useful skills into an overall composite.
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

STRENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP

in their ability to perform tasks and achieve goals. It Source

a hands-on approach to learning. Metacognition represents the ability to accurately set of mental “tools” that can be deployed to achieve
interpret and regulate cognitive processes such as their goals.
learning, thinking, perceiving and memorising. It is similar
to self-awareness, a skill belonging to the openness to
people’s performance in various life situations is
the development of self-regulated learning. Learning to

predictor of work-related performance, depending on in this aspect it is similar to some of the skills related to
it is listed as one of the main competences in the
(Figure 17).
and to what degree they use their knowledge and skills.

is slightly above actual ability, thus allowing individuals

promote learning and further development.

women who are highly competent in maths or science

and competently with challenges, as well as their

hough social and emotional skills are often called

24 ©OECD ©OECD 25
 03. THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ON LIFE OUTCOMES

seen as one helping children become lifelong learners,

individuals who are autonomous and adaptable, able to

Social and
important in the fast-changing environment we live Emotional Skills
are Learnable

On average, levels of conscientiousness, emotional

and agreeableness generally increase with age. On the (Figure 18).

Figure 18

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 27
 04. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ARE LEARNABLE 04. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ARE LEARNABLE

Figure 19

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

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

AGE AGE
USING SEDATIVES OR SLEEPING PILLS AT AGE 40

EVER SENTENCED TO PRISON BY AGE 40

Source ARRESTED 5+ TIMES BY AGE 40

found to actually decline from late childhood into 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
early adolescence, and then increase rapidly from late

Source
appears to decline in adolescence, before recovering later

should be a focus for the development of these skills. are in later years. However, the evidence indicates that

including learning in the workplace, can have a

Interventions and change Important life events, such as marriage or getting

of cognitive and clinical interventions indicate that
rather than a general skillset, are shown to have strong

comprehensive study to date that aimed to answer this

agreeableness.

included weekly home visits that focused on improving

comparing those who received the programmes with
years and then both the treatment and control groups

improvements in a variety of measures of social and

areas (Figure 19).

28 ©OECD ©OECD 29
 CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions
•
or learning resources, predict children’s social and

enhance policies to improve the development and well- •

type of teaching methods or school resources, predict

empirical evidence, including the evidence presented •

in this brochure, the project selected a set of the most cultural resources or safety, predict children’s social

•
of success in a wide range of important life outcomes.
•
to children’s gender and socio-economic background,

for the world as it is now but also for the world that is

the level of these skills in children. It is rather to help

not only to determine their average levels but also to

can then be used by parents, teachers and schools to

the children’s family, school and community environments

can be fostered.

and other stakeholders improved understanding of

and factors that are relevant to the development of these
skills.
better support the development of these skills. In
doing so, they will be able to adapt children’s learning

policy makers, teachers, school administrators and

and future prospects.

• Which socio-emotional skills predict children’s

30 ©OECD ©OECD 31
 Bibliography
“Personality psychology and economics”, ,

, Journal of Applied
Psychology ,
Science

, Child Development
,

, Labour Economics

,
,
Journal of Applied Psychology
,

, Journal of Applied
Psychology
, Health Psychology
,

32 ©OECD ©OECD 33
©OECD ©OECD
Write to us Order our publications

Connect with us on
edu.contact@oecd.org

Visit our website

Explore our data on education Subscribe to our newsletter

and skills

Read our books on line

Subscribe to our online library

www.oecd-ilibrary.org

©OECD