The best predictors of students’ satisfaction with life were how satisfied they were with their relationship with their parents or guardians, their life at school, their health, all the things they have, and the way they look, after accounting for student and school characteristics. Other aspects of their life, such as the friends they have, how they use their time, the neighbourhood they live in, their relationship with teachers, and what they learn at school are also positively associated with their satisfaction with life. In addition to personal life experiences, cultural differences may also shape how adolescents evaluate their lives.
Students' well-being
Well-being is defined as the quality of people's lives and their standard of living, which is a multi-dimensional construct that comprises both objective, material components and subjective, psychological facets.
![](/https/www.oecd.org/adobe/dynamicmedia/deliver/dm-aid--e5b1ae9e-82e6-4650-b166-0e947222115a/students-well-being-1655535301.jpg?quality=80&preferwebp=true)
Key messages
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Students in schools with a high prevalence of bullying were more likely to report a weaker sense of belonging at school. They also reported a poorer disciplinary climate and less co-operation amongst their schoolmates than students in schools with a low prevalence of bullying. Teachers and principals not only need to be able to recognise bullying when it happens, but they also need to create an atmosphere where bullying is less likely to occur.
Context
Intensity of students’ feelings is related to reading performance
Compared to students who reported never feeling happy, students who said that they rarely feel happy scored 46 points higher in reading, those who reported sometimes feeling happy scored 62 points higher, and those who reported always feeling happy scored 50 points higher, on average across OECD countries. The analyses concerning negative feelings, which also account for students’ gender, also show a curvilinear relationship with reading performance.
Students’ attitudes towards competition and reading performance (2018)
![Figure: Students’ attitudes towards competition and reading performance (2018)](/https/www.oecd.org/adobe/dynamicmedia/deliver/dm-aid--35639e82-125d-4037-a510-113b77ea0ecb/figure-students-attitudes-towards-competition-and-reading-performance-2019.jpg?quality=80&preferwebp=true)
Social and emotional skills are related to students’ mathematics performance
Students that are intellectually curious, persistent and better able to control their emotions outperform their peers. These findings show that cognition and emotion are intwined ingredients of academic success; they also show how important it is to invest in cultivating intellectual curiosity, a strong determination in pursuing goals and tasks, and the ability to regulate emotions in the face of challenges and frustrations.
Social and emotional skills, and mathematics performance (2022)
![Figure: Social and emotional skills, and mathematics performance (2022)](/https/www.oecd.org/adobe/dynamicmedia/deliver/dm-aid--5a23c620-486d-4c33-82bc-72990d460b4a/figure-social-and-emotional-skills-and-mathematics-performance-2023.jpg?quality=80&preferwebp=true)
Related publications
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Working paper8 March 2024
Programmes and projects
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Large-scale assessments of social and emotional skills mainly use students’ self-assessments, which have some flaws in terms of comparability and, to some extend, validity and interpretability. Smaller studies are trialling more direct assessments of these skills. Work is needed to translate the innovations made in these trials and test them on larger, international scales. » A better understanding of social and emotional skills will lead to better inclusion of these skills in education.Learn more
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The OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills is an international survey that identifies and assesses the conditions and practices that foster or hinder the development of social and emotional skills for 10- and 15-year-old students.Learn more
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