Social and Emotional Skills for Better Lives

Emilia-Romagna and Turin (Italy)

This site note provides an overview of how social and emotional skills are distributed among different student groups and how they relate to students’ health, well-being, educational outcomes, and future aspirations in Emilia-Romagna and Turin. It draws on data from the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) 2023.

Emilia-Romagna is a region and Turin is a city, both located in northern Italy.

SSES 2023 measured the following skills among 15-year-old students in Emilia-Romagna and Turin:

• Task performance skills (persistence, responsibility, self-control and achievement motivation)

• Emotional regulation skills (stress-resistance, emotional control and optimism)

• Engaging with others skills (assertiveness, sociability and energy)

• Open-mindedness skills (curiosity, creativity and tolerance)

• Collaboration skills (empathy and trust)

Results for Emilia-Romagna and Turin in this note are compared to the average across participating sites. This average includes:

• Sites that participated in SSES 2023 in all analyses: Bulgaria, Bogotá (Colombia), Chile, Delhi (India), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Gunma (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Jinan (China), Kudus (Indonesia), Peru, Sobral (Brazil), Spain, Turin (Italy) and Ukraine

• The following cities that participated in SSES 2019, where possible: Daegu (Korea), Houston (United States), Istanbul (Türkiye), Manizales (Colombia), Ottawa (Canada), and Suzhou (China)

Data for achievement motivation between 2019 and 2023 are not comparable, therefore analyses for this skill only include SSES 2023 sites.

Differences or effects considered to be statistically significant within this report are based on the 5% level of significance.

The OECD collaborated with Fondazione per la Scuola as the national project partner to implement the SSES in Emilia-Romagna and Turin.

For further analysis and information, refer to ‘Social and emotional skills for better lives: Findings from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills 2023’ and the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills 2023 Technical Report (forthcoming).

How are students’ social and emotional skills distributed across socio-demographic groups in Emilia-Romagna and Turin?

Differences in skills between boys and girls

• Girls in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin tended to report lower levels of emotional regulation skills (stress resistance, emotional control, and optimism), engaging with others skills (energy, sociability, and assertiveness) and trust than boys. Conversely, boys in both Italian sites reported lower levels of tolerance, achievement motivation, empathy, and responsibility than girls, on average (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Gender differences in skills in Emilia-Romagna, Turin and on average across all sites

Standardised differences between scores of 15-year-old girls and boys (girls minus boys)

Note: Skills are ordered from the largest gender difference where girls report lower levels to the largest difference where boys report lower levels on average across Emilia-Romagna and Turin. Significant differences between boys and girls at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured, non-significant differences are outlined. Persistence and curiosity are excluded as there were no significant gender differences in either site or on average across sites for these skills.

Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table B2.4

• Comparing Italian sites with the average across sites, gender differences in social and emotional skills tend to be larger than average in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin (see Figure 1).

  • Gender differences in energy, optimism and trust in Emilia-Romagna were the largest seen across sites for these skills, while Turin had the largest gender difference of all sites for emotional control.

• Comparing between Emilia-Romagna and Turin, gender differences were broadly similar for most skills, however there were some differences:

  • In Emilia-Romagna, girls tended to report lower levels of creativity than boys, while there was no significant gender difference in this skill in Turin.

  • Gender differences in optimism and energy were larger in Emilia-Romagna than in Turin.

Differences in skills between advantaged and disadvantaged students

• Disadvantaged students in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin reported lower levels of most skills than advantaged students, on average: creativity, assertiveness, achievement motivation, responsibility, trust, curiosity, sociability, and empathy (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Differences by socio-economic background in skills in Emilia-Romagna, Turin and on average across all sites

Standardised differences between the scores of 15-year-old advantaged and disadvantaged students (advantaged minus disadvantaged)

Note: Skills are ordered from the largest to smallest average difference on average across Emilia-Romagna and Turin. Significant differences between advantaged and disadvantaged students at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured, non-significant differences are outlined. Tolerance, emotional control, and stress resistance are excluded as there were no significant gender differences in either site for these skills.

Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table B2.5

• Comparing Italian sites with the average across sites:

  • In both Emilia-Romagna and Turin, there were no significant differences by socio-economic background in tolerance, while disadvantaged students tended to report lower levels of this skill in almost all other sites.

  • In both Emilia-Romagna and Turin, differences by socio-economic background in trust, responsibility and achievement motivation were larger than on average across sites.

  • In Emilia-Romagna, differences by socio-economic background in energy and optimism were larger compared to the average across sites.

• Comparing between Emilia-Romagna and Turin, differences by socio-economic background were broadly similar for most skills. However, in Emilia-Romagna, disadvantaged students tended to report lower levels of optimism, while there was no significant difference in this skill in Turin.

How are students’ social and emotional skills linked to their health and well-being outcomes in Emilia-Romagna and Turin?

Students’ health behaviours and well-being outcomes

• 15-year-old students in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin were more likely to report getting too little sleep, skipping breakfast, and smoking or drinking alcohol compared to the average across sites (see Figure 3):

  • Getting too little sleep: 66% of students in Emilia-Romagna and 69% in Turin reported getting less than 8 hours sleep most nights, compared to 57% on average across sites

  • Skipping breakfast: 46% of students in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin reported skipping breakfast most days, compared to 37% on average across sites

  • Smoking or drinking alcohol: 40% of students in Emilia-Romagna and 38% in Turin reported having ever smoked or drunk alcohol, compared to 17% on average across sites

• Students in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin were less likely to report low levels of exercise compared to the average across sites, while students in Turin were less likely to report eating few fruits or vegetables compared to this average (see Figure 3):

  • Low levels of exercise: 26% of students in Emilia-Romagna and 27% in Turin reported exercising only once a week or less often, compared to 31% on average across sites

  • Eating few fruits or vegetables: 37% of students in Emilia-Romagna and 31% in Turin reported not eating fruit or vegetables most days, compared to 35% on average across sites

Figure 3. Percentage of students engaging in unhealthy behaviours in Emilia-Romagna, Turin and on average across all sites

Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table B3.3

• Students in Emilia-Romagna and Turin tended to report lower levels of satisfaction with their relationships compared to the average across sites. This was particularly the case for students’ relationships with teachers, where almost one-fifth of students in both sites said they were not satisfied with these relationships.

• Students in Turin reported lower levels of psychological well-being than those in Emilia-Romagna. For example, in Emilia-Romagna, 60% of 15-year-olds said they felt calm and relaxed most of the time, compared to 54% of students in Turin.

Gender differences in health and well-being outcomes

• In Emilia-Romagna and Turin, as in almost all sites, girls report worse levels of all six measures of health and well-being (life satisfaction, current psychological well-being, test and class anxiety, health behaviours, relationship satisfaction and body image) than boys, on average.

• Gender differences, to the detriment of girls, in all health and well-being outcomes were larger in Emilia-Romagna and Turin than on average across sites, except for relationship satisfaction in Turin.

Relationships between social and emotional skills and students’ health and well-being outcomes

• Higher levels of almost all skills – particularly optimism, energy, and stress resistance – were associated with healthier behaviours and greater life satisfaction, psychological well-being, body image and relationship satisfaction in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin.

• Higher levels of emotional regulation skills (stress resistance, emotional control and optimism) and engaging with others skills (energy, assertiveness and sociability) were associated with less anxiety in class and during tests in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin. In addition, students with higher levels of trust and creativity also tend to have lower test and class anxiety in Turin.

  • Conversely, students with higher achievement motivation and empathy tended to report greater test and class anxiety in both Italian sites, while higher levels of self-control and responsibility were each associated with greater anxiety in Emilia-Romagna and Turin respectively.

• Comparing Italian sites with the average across sites, the relationships between many skills and better health and well-being outcomes were weaker in Italian sites than on average across sites. For example, task performance skills, curiosity, tolerance, and empathy were less strongly associated with most health and well-being outcomes in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin compared to the average across sites.

How are students’ social and emotional skills linked to their educational outcomes and career prospects in Emilia-Romagna and Turin?

Relationships between social and emotional skills and academic outcomes

Grades in maths, reading and arts

• Higher levels of task performance skills (achievement motivation, persistence, responsibility, self-control) and curiosity were associated with better grades in maths, reading and arts among 15-year-old students in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Relationships between students’ social and emotional skills and grades in Emilia-Romagna, Turin and on average across all sites

Standardised regression coefficients of individual skills on maths and reading grades among 15-year-olds

Note: Skills are ordered from the largest to smallest coefficient on average across Emilia-Romagna and Turin. Significant coefficients, denoting a statistically significant relationship at a threshold of p < 0.05 between the skill and outcome, are coloured, non-significant coefficients are outlined.

Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables B4.1 and B4.4

• Higher levels of most other social and emotional skills were also linked to better grades in at least one subject (see Figure 4). However, these relationships were less strong than for task performance skills and curiosity, and statistically significant effects were not always found in both sites:

  • Engaging with others skills: Greater assertiveness was associated with better grades in all three subjects in Turin and with better reading and arts grades in Emilia-Romagna. Higher levels of energy were associated with better maths and arts grades in Emilia-Romagna and with better reading grades in Turin.

  • Emotional regulation skills: Higher levels of emotional control were associated with better maths grades in Emilia-Romagna and better reading grades in Turin. Higher levels of optimism were associated with better maths and arts grades in Emilia-Romagna and better maths grades in Turin.

  • Open-mindedness skills: Higher levels of tolerance were associated with better arts grades in Emilia-Romagna and better reading grades in Turin. Higher levels of creativity were associated with better reading and arts grades in Turin.

  • Collaboration skills: Higher levels of empathy were associated with higher arts grades and higher levels of trust with better maths grades in Emilia-Romagna.

• Emilia-Romagna and Turin are two of a minority of sites in the SSES where higher levels of sociability were associated with poorer grades (see Figure 4), as well as higher levels of absence and tardiness. The negative relationship between sociability and maths grades is larger in Turin than Emilia-Romagna.

Absenteeism and tardiness

• In Emilia-Romagna, 46% of 15-year-olds had arrived late for school at least once in the two weeks prior to the SSES assessment, while 44% reported this in Turin, both below the average across sites (48%). In contrast, skipping school was more common in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin compared to the average across sites:

  • In Emilia-Romagna, 44% of students had skipped classes at least once in the prior two weeks, while 43% reported this in Turin, compared to 29% on average across sites.

  • In terms of skipping a whole day of school, over half of students reported having done this in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin (54% and 53% respectively), compared to 31% on average across sites.

• Higher levels of most social and emotional skills were associated with students being late and skipping school less often in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin: task performance skills (achievement motivation, responsibility, persistence, self-control), curiosity, emotional control, trust, empathy, and tolerance. In Turin, higher levels of optimism were also associated with less absence and tardiness.

Relationships between social and emotional skills and students’ ambitions for the future

• In Emilia-Romagna, 70% of 15-year-olds expect to complete tertiary education and 48% expect to have a managerial or professional job when they are 30. Expectations of both outcomes were a little higher in Turin, where 77% of 15-year-olds expect to complete tertiary education and 53% expect to have a managerial or professional job in the future. These aspirations were lower in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin than on average across sites (84% expect to complete tertiary education and 57% expect to have a managerial or professional job on average).

• In both Italian sites, higher levels of task performance skills (achievement motivation, self-control, persistence, responsibility) and open-mindedness skills (curiosity, tolerance, creativity), assertiveness and empathy were broadly associated with higher expectations of both completing tertiary education and having a managerial or professional job at age 30 among 15-year-old students (see Figure 5). There were a few exceptions to this: there was no statistically significant relationship between expectation of a managerial or professional job and either assertiveness or creativity in Turin or between expectations of a managerial or professional job and empathy in Emilia-Romagna).

• Comparing Italian sites with the average across sites:

  • In Emilia-Romagna, the relationship between curiosity, assertiveness, and self-control and both future expectations were stronger than on average across sites, while other task performance skills (achievement motivation, persistence, and responsibility) were also more strongly associated with expectations of completing tertiary education.

  • In Turin, the relationship between task performance skills and curiosity and expectations to complete tertiary education were stronger than on average across sites.

Figure 5. Relationships between students’ social and emotional skills and their future aspirations in Emilia-Romagna, Turin and on average across all sites

Standardised regression coefficients of individual skills on students’ expectations to complete tertiary education and have a managerial or professional job in the future among 15-year-olds

Note: Skills are ordered from the largest to smallest average coefficient on average across Emilia-Romagna and Turin. Significant coefficients, denoting a statistically significant relationship at a threshold of p < 0.05 between the skill and outcome, are coloured, non-significant coefficients are outlined.

Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables B4.19 and B4.30

Key features of SSES 2023

What is the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills?

The Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) is an international survey designed by the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation to improve understanding of social and emotional skills among 10- and 15-year-old students. The Survey aims to understand how levels of these skills differ among students with different characteristics; how these skills matter for important student outcomes; and how students’ school and home environments influence skill development.

Which social and emotional skills are covered in the Survey?

The 15 skills measured in the Survey were selected to provide a comprehensive coverage of those that are relevant for children’s and adolescents’ success and well-being. Further information on why and how these skills were selected can be found in the SSES assessment framework (Kankaraš and Suarez-Alvarez, 2019[1]).

How were these skills measured?

All students complete a questionnaire where they indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with a series of statements. Examples of statements include: ‘I keep working on a task until it is finished’, ‘I stay calm even in tense situations’ and ‘I am able to defend my interests when they are challenged’.

Who participated in the Survey?

All sites in SSES 2023 surveyed 15-year-olds and surveying 10-year-olds was optional. Students in sixteen sites – six countries and ten sub-national entities - participated in SSES 2023. Data from seven sites who participated in the first round of SSES in 2019, but not in 2023, are also included in analyses in this report wherever possible to expand the coverage of the international average.

Some 18,000 10-year-old and 52,000 15-year-old students took the SSES assessment in 2023, representing about 630,000 10-year-olds and 3 million 15-year-olds in the schools of the 16 participating sites. In both Emilia-Romagna and Turin, approximately 3,000 15-year-old students completed the assessment, representing about 22,600 15-year-old students in Emilia-Romagna and 14,600 15-year-old students in Turin. High levels of participation were achieved in both Emilia-Romagna and Turin despite difficulties that schools in Emilia-Romagna faced because of flooding in the region during the data collection.

References

[1] Kankaraš, M. and J. Suarez-Alvarez (2019), “Assessment framework of the OECD Study on Social and Emotional Skills”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 207, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5007adef-en.