Non-cognitive skills: what they are, types and examples

Non-cognitive abilities are relatively independent of the subject's intelligence, and it is important work and train them from childhood to achieve good social, cognitive and emotional.

In this article we will describe what is meant by non-cognitive abilities, we will see examples of some of them and we will present some techniques and programs that are used to work and enhance them.

• Related article: "Cognition: definition, main processes and operation"

What are non-cognitive skills?

Non-cognitive skills, or also called socio-emotional skills, cover a wide spectrum of aptitudes or traits such as empathy, resilience, self-control or even personality characteristics such as extroversion or openness to experience.

These skills They are independent of cognitive abilities, that is, we can develop them even if the latter are altered, but they do relate to each otherThis means that non-cognitive skills function as the basis for a correct functioning of cognitive abilities.

In this way, non-cognitive skills make it easier for us to learn and develop our knowledge and are fundamental for the child to develop well cognitively, emotionally and socially, keeping these components in Balance. For this reason, given its characteristics,

They will be necessary for the children to have a good functioning and school performance and the adult to achieve a prosperous job in the workplace.

It is known that these abilities, like most capacities and psychological characteristics of human beings, have a genetic component, although they also have environmental influence. Thus, it will be possible to work, train them, to improve and enhance their presence in the subjects.

• You may be interested in: "The 8 higher psychological processes"

What are non-cognitive skills?

There are many different non-cognitive abilities that, as we have seen, will be fundamental for the development of the individual. So let's get to know some of them better.

1. Self-control

Self-control consists of the ability to control oneself, to manage our thoughts, emotions and behavior in general taking into account our interests in a global sense (and not just paying attention to the here and now).

To be able to speak of self-control, two characteristics must be presented. The first is that at least two behaviors are involved where one will be the controlled response, that is, the one we want to increase and one or more other controllers, which allow us to increase the response controlled. The other necessary element will be that there is or exists a conflict of consequences between the different choices of behavior, this means that carrying out one or another behavior carries different consequences, presents important differences.

In this way we will speak of decisional control when the conflict is resolved in the act or prolonged self-control in which even making the choice the conflicting answers are evaluated continuously, we must continue to maintain the behavior of self-control during more time.

• Related article: "Self-control: 7 psychological tips to improve it"

2. Motivation

Motivation is described as a union of forces that are responsible for initiate and direct the individual's behavior. This is how through motivation we can try to understand, explain and modify behavior. It is the one that sets a goal and drives us to achieve it.

There are two main types of motivation; the intrinsic, which places its strength within the individual (that is, the subject performs the behavior as an end in itself, simply by doing it); and extrinsic, where, on the contrary, the force or motivation is fixed on the outside (the subject performs the behavior in order to obtain a reward, the activity alone does not motivate him).

• You may be interested in: "Types of motivation: the 8 motivational sources"

3. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to put ourselves in the place of the other, to identify and feel the emotions of the other person. In this way, it goes far beyond understanding their abilities, it is necessary, as we have already said, to place oneself in the place of the other individual.

That ability will gradually develop as we become socialized. In the same way it is an important component to be able to have an altruistic behavior.

• Related article: "Empathy, much more than putting yourself in someone else's shoes"

4. Resilience

Resilience is defined as the ability of some people who, despite having been surrounded by risk factors, in adverse situations, have developed psychologically in a healthy and correct way, with the ability to overcome different adversities and leading a positive, organized life or, as we have already said, healthy despite the environment complicated.

• You may be interested in: "Resilience: definition and 10 habits to enhance it"

5. Self esteem

Self-esteem refers to how we perceive, evaluate and value ourselves.

This ability evolves and varies throughout the life of the subject. Thus, generally during preschool and in adulthood it will be when the individual will have a higher self-esteem; on the other hand, it tends to decrease when the subject starts school, during adolescence and in old age.

• Related article: "Do you really know what self-esteem is?"

6. Perseverance

Perseverance is the ability to ** stay firm in the achievement of goals **. In this way we will also say that it consists of being constant to achieve our fixed goals, that is, we must have a clear purpose that justifies our dedication to achieve it.

Despite the positive characteristics and benefits that this ability gives us, a misuse of it or not control it, can end up being maladaptive and dysfunctional, since It can cause the subject to remain anchored in constantly performing an action, a behavior or in achieving an unattainable goal, affecting its normal functioning.

7. Social skills

Social skills are a set of skills or competencies that allow us to interact and act appropriately in society and to be seen and valued positively by others.

It is for this reason that depending on the context we must adapt them, for example, not for all cultures different social skills are perceived and valued the same.

• You may be interested in: "The 6 types of social skills, and what they are for"

8. Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is self-confidence or the conviction that one can satisfactorily perform the necessary behavior to achieve a goal or desired result.

• Related article: "The Self-Efficacy of Albert Bandura: Do you believe in yourself?"

9. Work ethic

The work ethic is defined as the ability to perceive that hard work and effort has a moral benefit and that it helps strengthen us to achieve goals.

10. Personality traits

Personality traits refer to both cognitions, emotions and behaviors. In short, the behavior that subjects tend to behave consistently in different situations, maintaining themselves over time.

There have been different authors who have made different classifications of personality traits, we will focus on one of them, which is the Big Five or the "big five". This as its name suggests describes 5 personality traits.

We fear extraversion, which is related to the amount and intensity of interpersonal interactions; neuroticism, which is linked to the degree of emotional adjustment; openness to experience, which is related to a taste for the unknown and for living new experiences; responsibility, which refers to the ability to organize, self-control and persist to achieve your goals; and kindness, linked to social interaction in a positive, empathetic way.

• You may be interested in: "The main theories of personality"

How to train and develop non-cognitive skills

As we already pointed out in the first section, non-cognitive skills have both a genetic and an environmental component. It is for this reason that it will be important to work and train them to achieve a better function of them.

In this way, it is recommended that both the school and their parents teach and reinforce the use of skills non-cognitive from an early age, since these will be essential for proper cognitive, emotional and Social.

Thus, different activities or programs have been proposed. For example, hold assemblies or debates where students can give their opinion on different aspects of their school or their peers, both positive and negative, and be able to propose improvements. For this activity to be useful, the teacher must act as a moderator and ensure that all students participate.

Another technique that we can use is role playing, that is, to present the students with different situations, being them the actors and practicing what would be the different behaviors or more appropriate behaviors. We can also use the technique of emotional cards which consists of knowledge and emotional work where each child expresses and represents the emotion of the card that has been touched and in this way learning can be done set.

To continue knowing and training emotions, to get a good use of them and a certain stability, we can also practice relaxation. For example, we can work with children so that they know and place where they feel the sensation of fear, where on the body and then be able to express what they notice, what they feel and share the experience.

Finally, the University of Murcia has proposed a Program to work on non-cognitive skills that is called "Educate to Be". This is aimed at the early educational stages and ends in the last year of Primary Education. This program uses stories, videos and different activities where the different adventures of some protagonists are narrated that will promote the learning of self-regulation skills.