Life skills Psychology

UNIT 1
 What are Life Skills?
• Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive
behaviour that enable individuals to deal
effectively with the demands and challenges of
everyday life.
• They are abilities that facilitate the physical,
mental and emotional well being of an
individual.
 Concept of Life Skills
• WHO initiated life skills education. CBSE introduced it
in our Schools in the early part of the present
decade.

• • Life skills can be conceptualized as psycho-social

competence. Psycho-social competence is an
individual’s ability to maintain a state of mental well
being and to demonstrate this through adaptive and
positive behaviour while interacting with others and
with his/her culture and environment.
 Concept-cont’d
• Adaptive means the person is flexible in
approach and is able to adjust to different
circumstances.
• Positive behaviour means that a person is
forward looking and that even in different
situations he/she can find a ray of hope and find
solutions to problems.
• Necessary life skills vary by a person's age and
by culture and society.
 Definition
• “Set of personal skills and social features that the individual
needs in order to interact confidently and efficiently with
themselves or with other people and with the local
community and in order to have a high ability to make
important decisions in his life, solve problems at all levels of
personal, social, sexual and self-development, in order to deal
with others positively, and avoid falling into crises, and
overcome them when they occur.”
 Definition
• “a set of psychosocial competence and
personal skills that help people make carefully
big decisions, communicate effectively with
others, develop coping skills with surrounding
circumstances, and manage oneself that leads
to progress and success”
 The importance of life skills
• In a constantly changing environment, having life skills is
an essential part of being able to meet the challenges of
everyday life.
• The dramatic changes in global economies over the past
five years have been matched with the transformation in
technology and these are all impacting on education, the
workplace and our home life.
• To cope with the increasing pace and change of modern
life, students need new life skills such as the ability to deal
with stress and frustration. Today’s students will have
many new jobs over the course of their lives, with
associated pressures and the need for flexibility.
 Importance
• Benefits to the individual
• Benefits for employment
• Benefits for society
Benefits for the individual-Students
• Find new ways of thinking and problem solving
• There is a lack of life skills in the output of
educational institutions. As a result, many fail in
their careers and personal lives due to the absence
of these skills they must have.
• Recognise the impact of their actions and teaches
them to take responsibility for what they do rather
than blame others
• Build confidence both in spoken skills and for
group collaboration and cooperation
 Benefits-students
•  Develop a greater sense of self-awareness
and appreciation for others
• Helps in motivating, providing practical,
cognitive, emotional, social and self-
management skills for life adjustments
• Analyse options, make decisions and
understand why they make certain choices
outside the classroom
 Benefits-students
• Life skills education helps students build confidence in
both communication and cooperative and collaborative
skills, provide them with tools important for
development, find new ways of thinking and problem-
solving and provide methods on how to socialize, make
new friends and recognize the impact of their actions and
behaviors. 
• Life skills also help students take action in situations
where their parents or teachers may not be available and
make themselves take responsibility for what they do
instead of blaming others.
 Benefits for employment
According to research employers are looking not just for
academic success but key employability skills including:
• The ability to self-manage, solve problems and
understand the business environment 
• Working well as part of a team
• Time and people management  
• Agility and adaptability to different roles and
flexible working environments
• The potential to lead by influence
 Benefits for society
The more we develop life skills individually, the more
these affect and benefit the world in which we live: 
• Recognizing cultural awareness and citizenship
makes international cooperation easier
• Respecting diversity allows creativity and
imagination to flourish developing a more tolerant
society 
• Developing negotiation skills, the ability to network
and empathize can help to build resolutions rather
than resentments
 Key Life Skills
• Life skills can be broadly categorized into three
types-
– -Thinking skills3
– Social skills
– Emotional skills
 Thinking skills
• Thinking skills relate to reflection at personal
level

Thinking skills are the skill that enhances the

logical faculty of the brain using an analytical
ability, thinking creatively and critically, and
developing problem-solving skills and
improving decision-making abilitie
 Social skills
• Social skills include interpersonal skills,
communication skills, leadership skills,
management skills, advocacy skills, co-
operation and team building skills, etc
 Emotional skills
Emotional skills, involves, knowing and being
comfortable with oneself. Thus, self–
management, including managing/coping with
feelings, emotions, stress and resisting peer and
family pressure.
 Ten Core Life Skills-WHO
• Self awareness
• Empathy
• Critical thinking
• Creative thinking
• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Interpersonal relationship skills
• Effective communication
• Coping with stress
• Dealing with emotions
 Life skills training-Models
• When designing programs for youth, it is
important to understand how youth develop
and identifying those skills that contribute to the
healthy development of youth.
• Life skills comprise the majority of competencies
within the personal and social assets categories
(i.e., physical development, intellectual
development, psychological and emotional
development, and social development;)
 Assets-6 ‘C’ s
(1) Competence in academic, social, emotional,
and vocational areas;
(2) Confidence in whom one is becoming (identity)
(3) Connection to self and others;
(4) Character that comes from positive values,
integrity, and strong sense of morals;
(5) Caring and compassion and
(6) Contribution to families, neighborhoods, and
communities
Models- program logic model.