This chapter investigates the relationships between social and emotional skills, foundational cognitive skills and education. It explores how social and emotional skills impact both the level (i.e. educational attainment) and the type of education (i.e. the field of studies), as well as participation in adult learning activities. It also examines how these skills relate to proficiency in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving, as well as the use of cognitive skills at work and in everyday life. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and educators focused on developing and maintaining a skilled adult population, promoting educational attainment and encouraging enrolment in targeted fields of study.
Skills that Matter for Success and Well‑being in Adulthood
Evidence on Adults' Social and Emotional Skills from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills
Abstract
Adults’ social and emotional skills relate to their educational attainment and cognitive proficiency. Results from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills show that among the five domains assessed – agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion and openness to experience – openness and emotional stability are consistently, albeit moderately, associated with educational attainment. These skills likely play a role in supporting autonomous learning and independent thinking – attributes particularly valuable in post-secondary education. They are also positively related to proficiency in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving, above and beyond their impact on formal education. Individuals high in openness use cognitive skills more frequently and are more likely to participate in adult learning, which may contribute to their higher average cognitive proficiency.
In contrast, the associations of agreeableness, conscientiousness and extraversion are comparatively weaker and show greater variation across countries and education outcomes, suggesting a stronger sensitivity to contextual factors. These skills may be particularly relevant in early schooling, where following rules, responding to authority and cooperating with peers are more central to academic success.
Key findings include:
Openness to experience and emotional stability are positively associated with the number of years of education attained. Conscientiousness shows a weak positive association with educational attainment in over half of the participating countries. In contrast, agreeableness and extraversion play a limited role.
The association between openness and educational attainment tends to be stronger among older adults and those from less-educated families, suggesting that these skills may help navigate more limited and unequal educational opportunities. Among younger adults, openness and emotional stability, along with agreeableness, tend to be positively linked to participation in tertiary education.
Social and emotional skills are linked to individuals’ field-of-study choices. For example, openness is associated with graduating in the humanities and education fields, while extraversion is positively linked to fields in economics, law and social sciences. Adults with higher levels of conscientiousness and emotional stability are more likely to undertake science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies, while high agreeableness and extraversion are linked to lower chances for such studies.
Openness to experience shows a moderate positive association with participation in adult learning activities, even after controlling for education level and employment characteristics. Extraversion is also positively linked to continued learning, while the role of emotional stability varies across countries.
Openness to experience and emotional stability are positively associated with proficiency in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving. These associations persist even after accounting for educational attainment, suggesting a direct role of social and emotional skills in supporting cognitive development.
Adults with higher levels of openness and extraversion are more likely to report frequent use of literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills in their daily life and at work, which may help maintain and reinforce these skills over time.
The acquisition of cognitive skills and education is often viewed through the lens of academic ability and access to formal learning opportunities. In this view, individuals are thought to develop key cognitive skills, such as literacy, numeracy and problem solving, primarily through schooling and formal instruction, with more skilled and able individuals being more likely to attain higher levels of education. Yet increasing evidence highlights the important role of social and emotional skills in shaping how individuals learn, adapt and succeed within the education system (OECD, 2024[1]).
This chapter examines the relationships between social and emotional skills (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion and openness to experience), key cognitive skills (literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving) and educational attainment. Social and emotional skills play an important role in learning: they influence how individuals approach challenges, manage motivation, interact with others and persist through difficulty – factors that are all critical to the acquisition of literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills. These skills are also linked to decisions about whether and how individuals engage with formal education, including the highest level of education attained, the field of study pursued, and participation in adult learning activities.
However, these relationships are complex and reciprocal. Social and emotional skills do not develop in isolation; they are shaped by cognitive development and learning environments throughout the life course. Through structured tasks, long-term goal-setting, interactions with peers and teachers, and exposure to diverse ideas and perspectives, formal education can impact skills such as conscientiousness, extraversion and openness to experience. Similarly, cognitive skills can influence social and emotional development by affecting individuals’ ability to reflect on their experiences and emotions, understand complex social situations, make informed decisions and regulate their behaviour in response to different demands.
Drawing on data from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills, the chapter explores how social and emotional skills relate to both the level of education attained and its type, as well as participation in adult learning activities. It examines how these skills relate to proficiency in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving, as well as the use of cognitive skills at work and in everyday life. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and educators focused on developing and maintaining a skilled adult population, promoting educational attainment and encouraging enrolment in targeted fields of study.
Findings from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills indicate that, among the five domains, openness to experience shows the strongest association with educational attainment (Figure 2.1). On average across the participating OECD countries and economies, a one-standard-deviation increase of openness is associated with 0.4 additional years of education, with country-specific effects ranging from 0.2 years in Canada to 0.8 years in Italy. Emotional stability is also positively associated with educational attainment in all countries and economies except Czechia, Latvia, Norway, the Slovak Republic and Sweden. On average across the OECD, a one-standard-deviation increase in emotional stability is linked to an increase of 0.2 years of education. These results focus on adults aged 25-65 and are adjusted for socio-demographic factors, including gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner or has children.
Change in the number of years of education attained related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains; 25-65 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with years of education attained.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Further analysis at the facet level indicates that the 15 Big Five facets differ in their relevance to educational attainment (Figure 2.2). On average across the OECD countries with facet-level data, the openness facets aesthetic sensitivity and intellectual curiosity are positively related to years of education attained, while creative imagination shows no significant association. For emotional stability, lower tendencies for depression and emotional volatility are significantly linked to higher educational attainment, while anxiety does not play a significant role. In the agreeableness domain, facets are only weakly or not significantly related to education.
In the conscientiousness domain, organisation and productiveness have no significant associations to years of education, which is counterintuitive, given that these traits are typically associated with effective study habits and academic success. By contrast, the responsibility facet shows a positive association, with a one-standard-deviation increase in this facet corresponding, on average, to an additional 0.1 years of education. One possible explanation is that responsibility reflects a broader sense of commitment, which may be more critical for long-term educational engagement than the day-to-day efficiency or neatness typically linked to being organised and productive.
Change in the$ number of years of education attained related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five facets; 25-65 year-olds
Note: Aggregated results across the OECD countries that used the BFI-2-S measure (see Chapter 1). Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. (r) denotes reverse-coded sub-domains, where a positive score corresponds to a low tendency for anxiety, depression or emotional volatility (and thus higher emotional stability). Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
In the domain of extraversion, facets show divergent relationships with educational attainment. Energy level is not significantly related to the length of education. Assertiveness, by contrast, has a positive relationship, possibly because it facilitates active participation in classroom discussions, signals engagement and supports leadership in academic contexts. Conversely, sociability is negatively associated with educational attainment, suggesting that highly sociable individuals may prioritise social activities over academic ones or find formal learning environments less appealing.
Not all countries exhibit the same pattern in the association between the Big Five facets and educational attainment (see Annex A). For example, respectfulness shows a positive association with years of education in Canada, Chile, Estonia and Spain, and a negative association in Norway and Portugal. Conversely, productiveness is positively associated with years of education in Norway and Portugal, but negatively associated in Czechia and Estonia. Most notably, creative imagination shows a mixed pattern across countries, exhibiting a positive link to educational attainment in Chile, Korea and the Slovak Republic, but a negative link in Canada, Czechia, Estonia, Italy and Norway.
The associations between conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion with educational attainment are statistically significant in fewer countries and are relatively weaker. Conscientiousness shows a positive relationship with years of education in 16 countries and economies, and a negative association only in Austria. On average across the OECD, a one-standard-deviation increase in conscientiousness corresponds to an additional 0.1 years of education. The association between agreeableness and educational attainment varies across countries, with Israel, Italy, Norway and Portugal recording a negative association, and Canada, Estonia, the Flemish Region (Belgium) and Latvia showing a positive association. The relationship between extraversion and years of education is positive in Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Ireland, France, Poland and Switzerland, but negative in Czechia.
Overall, the observed relationships align with previous findings. Especially openness to experience and emotional stability have been shown to be positively linked to the level of education attained, while the relationships with extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness are less consistent across studies (Lundberg, 2013[3]; Rammstedt, Lechner and Danner, 2024[4]; Van Eijck and De Graaf, 2004[5]).
Several mechanisms may underly such results. First, social and emotional skills can foster learning and academic performance, making it more likely for individuals to achieve the academic success needed to pursue higher levels of education. Findings from the 2023 Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) have shown that skills related to openness, such as curiosity, and those linked to conscientiousness, including achievement motivation, persistence and responsibility, are positively associated with 15-year-old students’ grades in maths, reading and the arts (OECD, 2024[1]). Second, social and emotional skills may impact students’ motivation and ambition to continue their education. Findings from the same study indicate that students who score higher in the openness domain, especially in creativity and tolerance, as well as in conscientiousness, are more likely to expect to complete tertiary education (OECD, 2024[1]). Third, social and emotional skills may also play a signalling role in education systems. For example, behaviours associated with strong intellectual curiosity may be perceived by teachers as indicators of academic potential, thereby influencing the academic opportunities and encouragement students receive.
At the same time, it is possible that the observed correlations are partly due to the fact that education itself can influence the development of social and emotional skills. The hypothesis that social and emotional skills are shaped by education has been investigated in the academic literature. For example, a study investigated the causal impact of the length of schooling on students’ Big Five traits by exploiting variation in the length of the academic school track in Germany resulting from a school reform introduced at the state level. It found that shortening the academic high school track by one year led to students becoming, on average, more extraverted but less emotionally stable (Dahmann and Anger, 2014[6]).
Overall, the results suggest that openness to experience and emotional stability play a more prominent role in shaping educational attainment across countries. Additional analyses show that the facet responsibility also plays a role (see Box 2.1). These skills likely support autonomous learning, independent thinking, long-term goal-setting and sustained effort over time – attributes particularly valuable in post-secondary education. In contrast, social and emotional skills related to compliance, such as agreeableness or certain facets of conscientiousness, as well as extraversion, appear to be less predictive of overall educational attainment.
Social and emotional skills play a different role for education among different age groups
The association between the Big Five domains and educational attainment may differ between younger and older adults, reflecting the distinct educational contexts they experienced. For older cohorts, access to higher levels of education was often constrained by social, gender and regional disparities. In these settings, social and emotional skills, particularly those linked to openness to experience, emotional resilience and conscientiousness, may have played a more decisive role in navigating these barriers and persisting in the education system. In contrast, younger adults have generally benefited from expanded access to education and more inclusive education policies, which may have reduced the relative influence of social and emotional skills on educational attainment.
Figure 2.3 shows how the Big Five domains are related to years of education attained across two age groups: 25-44 and 45-65 year-olds. The largest differences between the groups are observed in the domain of openness to experience. In nearly half of the countries and economies, the association between openness and years of education attained is significantly stronger among older adults than among younger ones. On average across OECD countries and economies, a one-standard-deviation increase in openness is associated with an additional 0.5 years of education in the older age group, compared to 0.3 years in the younger group. Nevertheless, openness to experience continues to play a meaningful role for educational attainment among younger adults in all countries except Canada, Norway and New Zealand.
In the other Big Five domains, the relationships between social and emotional skills and years of education are generally similar between younger and older adults, with some notable exceptions. Conscientiousness plays a stronger role for educational attainment among older adults than among younger ones in Chile and Singapore, while it is more important for attaining education among younger adults in Czechia, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. Similarly, emotional stability is more strongly related to years of education attained among older adults in Chile and Hungary, while it has a stronger association with educational attainment among the younger age group in the Flemish Region (Belgium) and Germany.
Figure 2.4 focuses on younger adults aged 19-29 participating in the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills and examines the association between their self-reported social and emotional skills and their participation in tertiary education. In about one-third of the participating countries, openness to experience positively relates to the likelihood of being enrolled in or having completed tertiary education. Eleven countries record positive associations between agreeableness and tertiary education participation. Emotional stability is positively associated with tertiary education participation among young adults in Chile, England (United Kingdom), Estonia, the Flemish Community (Belgium), France, Israel, Ireland and New Zealand, while conscientiousness shows a significant positive association in Finland, Lithuania and Sweden. Extraversion is positively related to the likelihood of participating in or completing tertiary education only in the Slovak Republic and shows a negative relationship in Portugal.
Change in the number of years of education attained related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains, 25-44 and 45-65 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for gender, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with years of education attained among 25-44 year-olds.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Change in the likelihood for participating in or having completed tertiary education related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains; 19-29 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with tertiary education participation.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Openness is more strongly linked to education among less privileged adults
By the same logic, the relationship between social and emotional skills and educational attainment may also vary depending on individuals’ family background, particularly the educational level of their parents. Adults from lower-educated families – those whose parents did not attain tertiary education – often face more structural and informational barriers when navigating the education system. In such contexts, social and emotional skills may play a more critical role in supporting persistence, motivation and self-directed learning. By contrast, individuals with highly educated parents – those with at least one parent who attained tertiary education – are more likely to grow up in environments that value and support education, regardless of their social and emotional profile. In these cases, the influence of social and emotional skills on educational attainment may be less pronounced, as family background itself provides strong support for educational progression.
Figure 2.5 shows that openness to experience tends to be more strongly linked to educational attainment among adults aged 25-65 with lower-educated parents. In about half of the countries and economies, this association is significantly stronger than the association observed for adults with tertiary-educated parents. For conscientiousness and extraversion, this pattern emerges in only a few countries. Conscientiousness matters more for the educational attainment of adults with lower-educated parents in Lithuania and Singapore, while it plays a more prominent role for the educational attainment of adults with highly educated parents in Czechia and Hungary. Extraversion tends to be more important for education among adults with lower-educated parents in Chile, England (United Kingdom), France, Hungary and Norway.
Overall, the relationship between social and emotional skills and educational attainment varies across socio-demographic groups and country contexts, but skills related to openness to experience and emotional stability consistently emerge as important predictors. The association between openness and educational attainment tends to be stronger among older adults and adults from less privileged backgrounds, suggesting that these skills may help navigate more limited and unequal educational opportunities. Among younger adults, openness and emotional stability, together with agreeableness, play a meaningful role in pursuing tertiary education in many countries.
Choosing a field of study reflects personal preferences, motivations and behavioural tendencies – many of which are rooted in individuals’ social and emotional profiles. These skills may shape how individuals perceive their own fit within different disciplines and potential career paths. For example, individuals high in openness to experience may be more drawn to fields that encourage exploration and creativity, while those high in conscientiousness may prefer structured and rule-based disciplines. Understanding how such skills relate to field-of-study choices is important for several reasons: it can shed light on how individuals navigate complex decisions about their future, help explain patterns of segregation across disciplines and inform education policies aimed at supporting more inclusive and future-oriented guidance systems.
Previous studies show that while cognitive skills have a stronger impact on educational attainment, social and emotional skills are at least as important for the choice of subject (Humburg, 2017[7]). Studies consistently show that social and emotional skills, as measured by the Big Five framework, are systematically linked to specific fields of study (Coenen, Borghans and Diris, 2021[8]; OECD, 2024[1]; Thørrisen and Sadeghi, 2025[9]). Some of these studies rely on longitudinal data and assess students’ socio and emotional skills prior to their entry into higher education (e.g. Humburg (2017[7])). Their findings suggest that these skills influence students’ preferences for specific fields. However, the reverse may be also hold: the social environment of different fields can shape the development of social and emotional skills.
Change in the number of years of education attained related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains, by parental education; 25-65 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for age, gender, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with years of education attained among 25-65 year-olds with at least one tertiary-educated parent.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Results of the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills largely confirm the relationships between social and emotional skills and field of study among tertiary-educated 25-65 year-olds (Figure 2.6). Most notably, openness to experience and agreeableness positively relate to the likelihood of having pursued studies in education and teaching, on average across countries and after controlling for other factors. Openness is also positively related to graduating in the humanities, whereas higher extraversion, emotional stability and conscientiousness are linked to a lower likelihood for these studies. In contrast, extraversion, emotional stability and conscientiousness positively relate to the likelihood of graduating in economics, social sciences or law. Agreeableness shows a positive association with graduating from fields related to health or welfare. Conscientiousness and emotional stability are positively associated with graduation from STEM-related fields, while agreeableness and extraversion show a negative relationship.
Change in the likelihood for a particular field of study related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains; 25-65 year-olds with tertiary education
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for age, gender, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Figure 2.7 focuses on the links between the 15 Big Five facets and pursuing a STEM field of study, based on aggregated results from the OECD countries with facet-level information. STEM fields are central to innovation, productivity and economic growth, and yet they remain highly selective and often underrepresent certain groups. While much attention has been given to the role of cognitive ability and academic preparation in choosing STEM, the influence of specific social and emotional skills on entry into and completion of these programmes remains less known.
Figure 2.7 shows these associations both for adults aged 25-65 with completed tertiary education and for those aged 19-29 who are enrolled in or have completed tertiary education. For both groups, creative imagination and a low tendency for emotional volatility are positively associated with studying or graduating from a STEM field of study. In contrast, aesthetic sensitivity and sociability show negative associations, suggesting a preference for people- or art-oriented contexts over task-oriented, analytical environments. Within the domain of conscientiousness, responsibility has a negative association with the likelihood of pursuing STEM among 25-65 year-olds, while organisation has a negative association among 19-29 year-olds. Additionally, compassion has a negative association among the older age group.
Change in the likelihood for participating in or having completed STEM studies related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five facets; 25-65 year-olds with tertiary education and 19-29 year-olds enrolled in or having completed tertiary education
Note: Aggregated results across the OECD countries that used the BFI-2-S measure (see Chapter 1). Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for age, gender, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner and whether one has children. (r) denotes reverse-coded sub-domains, where a positive score corresponds to a low tendency for anxiety, depression or emotional volatility (and thus higher emotional stability). Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
In sum, different social and emotional skills are associated with different fields of study, reflecting the varied demands and environments of each discipline. For STEM fields, which are key to shaping the future through innovation, higher creative imagination and greater emotional stability appear important for participation and graduation, across younger and older cohorts (see Box 2.2).
In a rapidly changing world of work, lifelong learning is essential for maintaining employability, adapting to new technologies and navigating career transitions. While factors such as educational background, employment status and access to training opportunities are well-known predictors of adult learning participation (OECD, 2025[10]), social and emotional skills may also influence whether and how adults engage in learning throughout life (Klinkhammer, Rüther and Schemmann, 2024[11]; Laible, Anger and Baumann, 2020[12]; Sörman et al., 2024[13]).
Results of the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills show that the Big Five domains are only moderately associated with participation in non-formal learning activities, and these associations are not significant in all countries (Figure 2.8). The analysis focuses on adults aged 25-65 and accounts for the impact of other factors, including respondents’ educational attainment and industry of employment. Non-formal learning is defined as intentional and institutionalised learning that is typically of short duration. It includes courses, webinars, workshops, lectures or private lessons that respondents attended voluntarily for job-related or personal reasons over the 12 months preceding the assessment.
Among the Big Five domains, openness to experience stands out as the domain most strongly linked to adult learning participation. In 13 countries, higher levels of openness are associated with a greater likelihood of participating in learning activities, with the sizes of these associations ranging from a 2-percentage-point higher likelihood per standard-deviation increase in openness in Korea to 8 percentage points in the Netherlands. Extraversion is also positively related to adult learning in several countries and economies, including Canada, Chile, France, Hungary, the Flemish Region (Belgium) and Poland.
By contrast, the domains of emotional stability, conscientiousness and agreeableness play a role in adult learning participation in only a few countries. Emotional stability is positively related to adult learning participation in Finland, France, Norway and Switzerland, and negatively associated in Israel, Poland and Spain. Conscientiousness has a positive association in the Slovak Republic and Spain but a negative association in the Netherlands. Similarly, agreeableness shows a positive link in Ireland and Singapore and a negative one in the Slovak Republic.
These findings suggest that openness to experience continues to impact the participation in learning activities, beyond and above its impact on participation in formal education. However, these associations are statistically significant in less than half of the countries and economies and their strength is generally weak to moderate. At the facet level, the positive associations of aesthetic sensitivity and intellectual curiosity highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation and interest in learning as drivers of adult learning engagement (Box 2.3).
Change in the likelihood for participating in adult learning activities during the year prior to the survey related to one-standard-deviation increase in Big Five domains; 25-65 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner, whether one has children, educational attainment and industry. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with participation in adult learning activities.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) databases, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Figure 2.9 shows how the 15 Big Five facet skills relate to adult learning participation, on average, across the OECD countries with available data, and net of the impact of other factors. Within the domain of openness to experience, aesthetic sensitivity and intellectual curiosity show moderate positive associations with adult learning participation, whereas creative imagination is not related to adult learning participation, on average across countries. Among the extraversion facets, assertiveness has a weak positive association, while in the domain of emotional stability, a lower tendency for depression is linked to a somewhat higher likelihood of participating in adult learning activities.
Change in the likelihood for participating in adult learning activities during the year prior to the survey related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five facets; 25-65 year-olds
Note: Aggregated results across the OECD countries that used the BFI-2-S measure (see Chapter 1). Estimates are obtained from a regression model controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner, whether one has children, educational attainment and employment industry. (r) denotes reverse-coded sub-domains, where a positive score corresponds to a low tendency for anxiety, depression or emotional volatility (and thus higher emotional stability). Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
This section explores the relationship between social and emotional skills and the key cognitive skills assessed in the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills. While cognitive ability and formal education are well-established drivers of proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem solving, social and emotional skills – captured through the Big Five model – are increasingly recognised as contributors to skill development across the life course (Rammstedt et al., 2025[14]).
Social and emotional skills can influence cognitive skills in different ways. Most directly, they can support the development, use and maintenance of cognitive skills through behaviours and attitudes that enhance learning. For example, individuals high in openness to experience may be more inclined to seek out new knowledge and intellectual stimulation, while those high in conscientiousness may demonstrate the sustained effort and self-discipline needed for skill acquisition. Emotional stability may mitigate test anxiety and foster confidence, supporting both performance and learning. Though less intuitively linked to cognitive skills, extraversion and agreeableness may play a role by influencing how individuals interact in learning environments or seek support from teachers and peers.
At the same time, social and emotional skills can affect the development of cognitive skills indirectly, by shaping individuals’ education trajectories. The previous sections showed that openness to experience and emotional stability are positively linked to educational attainment, a key predictor of proficiency in information-processing skills. In addition, openness and extraversion support adult learning participation, thereby contributing to skills maintenance and further development. To address this, the analysis in this section presents estimates both with and without accounting for educational attainment, thereby helping to distinguish the direct associations between socio-emotional and cognitive skills from those operating through education. Furthermore, these analyses focus on adults’ literacy proficiency, while results for numeracy and adaptive problem solving are briefly summarised and presented in Annex A.
Individuals high in openness to experience and emotional stability tend to have stronger literacy skills
Among the Big Five domains, openness to experience shows the strongest association with literacy proficiency (Figure 2.10). On average across OECD countries, a one-standard-deviation higher openness corresponds to a 6-point increase on the literacy scale. This association is positive in nearly all countries and economies, except Croatia, Poland and Singapore (where it is not statistically significant), and the Slovak Republic (where it is negative). Emotional stability is also positively related to literacy proficiency in most countries, with an average 3-point increase in proficiency per standard-deviation increase. Exceptions are Ireland, Israel, Korea, Norway, the Slovak Republic, Sweden and Poland, where the association is not significant. Controlling for educational attainment reduces the associations between emotional stability and openness with literacy in most countries, as these domains are positively linked to education attainment. Nonetheless, the associations remain significant in most countries, indicating that these skill domains contribute to literacy outcomes above and beyond their impact on education.
The remaining domains show a different pattern. Extraversion has a moderate negative association with literacy proficiency in 16 countries and economies. This may reflect a preference for social engagement over solitary reading or study, or differences in how individuals respond to test environments. Conscientiousness shows a negative association in 11 countries and a positive association in six countries. A possible explanation for the negative associations is that, in these contexts, conscientiousness may serve as a compensatory trait among individuals with lower literacy skills. Finally, agreeableness is negatively related to literacy proficiency in eight countries and positively related in four countries. After accounting for educational attainment, the associations between the three Big Five domains and literacy remain largely the same, as the domains have a small or not significant association with education.
The Big Five skill domains and facets show very similar associations with numeracy and adaptive problem solving (Annex A). A notable difference is that emotional stability is somewhat more strongly associated with numeracy than with literacy or APS across countries. In contrast, extraversion shows a negative association with numeracy in fewer countries and economies than it does with literacy and APS.
Adjusted changes in literacy proficiency related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains, before and after accounting for educational attainment; 16-65 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from a regression models controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner, whether one has children and – in a second step – for educational attainment. Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level. Caution is required in interpreting results for Poland. See the Note for Poland in the Reader’s Guide in OECD (2024[15]). Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with literacy proficiency, which is unadjusted for education.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
At the facet level, higher levels of aesthetic sensitivity, intellectual curiosity, assertiveness and responsibility, as well as lower tendency toward emotional volatility, are linked to somewhat higher literacy proficiency, on average across the OECD countries with available data (Figure 2.11). These associations are attenuated when accounting for the mediating role of educational attainment. In contrast, creative imagination, sociability, energy level and organisation are negatively related to literacy proficiency, while the agreeableness facets and productiveness display only weak links.
Adjusted changes in literacy proficiency related to a one-standard-deviation increase in Big Five facets, before and after accounting for educational attainment
Note: Adults aged 16-65; aggregated results across the OECD countries that used the BFI-2-S measure (see Chapter 1). Estimates are obtained from regression models controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner, whether one has children and – in a second step – for educational attainment. (r) denotes reverse-coded sub-domains, where a positive score corresponds to a low tendency for anxiety, depression or emotional volatility (and thus higher emotional stability). Darker colours denote differences that are statistically significant at the 5% level.
Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025).
Individuals high in openness to experience tend to read more frequently
The above findings suggest that openness to experience and emotional stability may relate to literacy skills through mechanisms other than educational participation. One such mechanism may be the regular use of literacy skills in daily life. Individuals high in openness to experience or emotional stability may be more inclined to seek out opportunities to read and learn, thereby reinforcing and sustaining their literacy skills over time.
Figure 2.12 shows the association between the Big Five domains and adults’ engagement in reading practices. The latter is measured using an item response theory (IRT)-based index on how frequently respondents engage with different reading tasks (e.g. reading books, instructions, letters, memos, emails, newspaper articles, manuals, bills, invoices, scholarly publications) (OECD, 2024[16]). Among the Big Five domains, openness to experience is associated with stronger engagement in reading practices across all countries and economies. On average across OECD countries, a one-standard-deviation increase in openness to experience is linked to a 0.2 standard-deviation increase on the index of reading in everyday life, and a 0.15 standard-deviation increase on the index of reading at work.
In contrast, emotional stability is associated with reading practices in only a few countries. In Croatia, Czechia and Singapore, this association is negative, with more emotionally stable individuals reading, on average, somewhat less frequently in everyday life contexts, and, in Singapore, also at work. The domains of agreeableness and conscientiousness also play a limited role in adults’ use of literacy skills. Notable exceptions are England (United Kingdom) and Korea, where higher conscientiousness is linked to more frequent engagement in reading tasks at home and work, and Chile, where agreeableness is positively associated with the frequency of reading at home.
Extraversion shows a moderate positive association with adults’ use of literacy skills in daily life, and a somewhat stronger association with their use of literacy at work. This contradicts the finding that extraversion is linked to slightly lower literacy proficiency, other things being equal. Extraverted individuals tend to be more socially and professionally active, which can expose them to more situations requiring the use of reading (e.g. reading emails). Their positive affect and social motivation may also make them more likely to engage in everyday tasks that involve literacy, even if they do so with slightly lower proficiency.
Additional analyses presented in Annex A explore the relationships between the Big Five domains and the use of numeracy and problem solving. The results closely resemble those for literacy use. Openness to experience is positively linked to numeracy use in everyday life across all participating countries and shows a significant positive link to numeracy use at work in 26 countries. The domain is also significantly related to more frequent solving of simple and complex problems at work in most countries. Extraversion is likewise positively related to the use of numeracy and problem solving in the majority of countries. By contrast, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability show no significant associations in most countries.
Changes in the indices of use of literacy skills in everyday life and at work (in standard deviations) related to a one-standard-deviation increase in the Big Five domains, 25-65 year-olds
Note: Estimates are obtained from regression models controlling for gender, age, parental education, immigrant background, whether one lives with a partner, whether one has children and educational attainment.
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the association of each Big Five domain with the index of reading in everyday life. Source: OECD (2024[2]), Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/ (accessed on 11 August 2025)
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