Salta al menu principale di navigazione Salta al contenuto principale Salta al piè di pagina del sito
Ricerche di Psicologia/Psychological Research Journal - Open Access

Articoli

N. 3 (2023)

More personal values, better soft skills: An explorative study with a group of Italian university students

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rip2023oa18120
Inviata
11 luglio 2024
Pubblicato
16-07-2024

Abstract

We live in a complex social world characterized by high levels of job insecurity and ever-changing work trends. In this context, hard skills alone are not enough to be hired and promoted, and soft skills have become a “musthave” for students and job seekers. Several research highlighted the positive role of some active learning methods in developing soft skills such as servicelearning.
However, personal characteristics might make people prone to be more skilled in specific areas than others. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the association between personal values and soft skills in a group of Italian university students. Two hundred forty-eight university students (women = 79.0%; Mage = 22.96, SD = 3.23) took part in the study. Participants completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire and the ERASMUS+K2 eLene4work Scale. Path analysis findings show several associations between the study’s variables. Personal-focused values are mainly associated with intrapersonal soft skills, while social-focused values are primarily related to interpersonal soft skills. Further significant relationships between values and soft skills emerge, especially in the case of openness to change and self-transcendence values. Limitations of the study, future research developments, and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Riferimenti bibliografici

  1. Ahmad, A.R., Chew, F.P., Zulnaidi, H., Sobri, K.M. (2019). Influence of school culture and classroom environment in improving soft skills amongst secondary schoolers. International Journal of Instructions, 12, 259-274, DOI: 10.29333/iji.2019.12217a.
  2. Albanesi, C., Bergamin, M., Cecchini, C., Compare, C., Culcasi, I., De Piccoli, N., & Di Masi, D. (2023). The Manifesto of Italian Universities Network for Service-Learning. Form@re - Open Journal Per La Formazione in Rete, 23(2), 7-12. DOI: 10.36253/form-14780.
  3. Allport, G. W. (1961). Values and our youth. Teachers College Record.
  4. Anjum, M.A., Karim, J., & Bibi, Z. (2014). Relationship of values and conflict management styles. IBA Business Review, 9(1), 92-103.
  5. Arieli, S., Sagiv, L., & Roccas, S. (2020). Values at work: The impact of personal values in organisations. Applied Psychology, 69(2), 230-275. DOI: 10.1111/apps.12181.
  6. Ariza-Montes, A., Arjona-Fuentes, J.M., Han, H., & Law, R. (2017). Employee responsibility and basic human values in the hospitality sector. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 62, 78-87. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.12.001.
  7. Arnold, D., Cinque, M., Uggeri, M., & Mazalu, M. (2020, November). Mix and match: University-corporate cross-fertilisation in active learning approaches for soft skills development [Paper presentation]. ICDE World Conference on Online Learning, Dublin, Ireland.
  8. Aryani, F., Wirawan, H., Saman, A., Samad, S., & Jufri, M. (2021). From high school to workplace: Investigating the effects of soft skills on career engagement through the role of psychological capital in different age groups. Education+ Training, 63(9), 1327-1345, DOI: 10.1108/ET-03-2021-0087.
  9. Barni, D. (2009). Trasmettere valori. Tre generazioni familiari a confronto. Unicopli.
  10. Blazar, D., & Kraft, M. A. (2017). Teacher and teaching effects on students’ attitudes and behaviors. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(1), 146-170. DOI: 10.3102/0162373716670260.
  11. Bond, M.H., Leung, K., Au, A., Tong, K.-K., & Chemonges-Nielson, Z. (2004). Combining social axioms with values in predicting social behaviours. European Journal of Personality, 18(3), 177-191. DOI: 10.1002/per.509.
  12. Bootsma, M., Jeffrey, C., Perkins, J.D. (2021). Is there learning in Service Learning? Measuring the extent to which vita participation improves student technical competence and soft skills VITA participation improvement of technical and soft skills. Issues in Accounting Education, 36(2), 21-42. DOI: 10.2308/ISSUES-19-113.
  13. Bradley, D., Crawford, E., & Dahill-Brown, S.E. (2015). Fidelity of implementation in a large-scale, randomized, field trial: Identifying the critical components of values affirmation. The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness.
  14. Brosch, T. & Sander, D. (2015) (Eds). Handbook of values: Perspective from economics, neuroscience, philosophy, and sociology. Oxford University Press.
  15. Capanna, C., Vecchione, M., & Schwartz, S. H. (2005). La misura dei valori. Un contributo alla validazione del Portrait Values Questionnaire su un campione italiano [The measurement of values. A contribution to the validation of the Portrait Values Questionnaire on an Italian sample]. Bollettino di Psicologia Applicata, 246, 29-41.
  16. Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Arteche, A., Bremner, A. J., Greven, C., & Furnham, A. (2010). Soft skills in higher education: Importance and improvement ratings as a function of individual differences and academic performance. Educational Psychology, 30(2), 221-241. DOI: 10.1080/01443410903560278.
  17. Chirumbolo, A., Callea, A., & Urbini, F. (2021). The effect of job insecurity and life uncertainty on everyday consumptions and broader life projects during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5363. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18105363.
  18. Ciappei, C. (2015). Soft skills to govern action. Speech presented at “Soft skills and their role in employability-New perspectives in teaching, assessment and certification” Workshop in Bertinoro, FC, Italy.
  19. Cimatti, B. (2016). Definition, development, assessment of soft skills and their role for the quality of organizations and enterprises. International Journal for Quality Research, 10(1), 97-129. DOI: 10.18421/IJQR10.01-05.
  20. Cinque, M. (2016). “Lost in translation”. Soft skills development in European countries. Tuning Journal for Higher Education, 3(2), 389-427. DOI: 10.18543/tjhe-3(2)-2016pp389-427.
  21. Corneliussen, J. G., Leon, G. R., Kjærgaard, A., Fink, B. A., & Venables, N. C. (2017). Individual traits, personal values, and conflict resolution in an isolated, confined, extreme environment. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, 88(6), 535-543. DOI: 10.3357/AMHP.4785.2017.
  22. Culcasi, I., & Venegas, R. P. F. (2023). Service-Learning and soft skills in higher education: A systematic literature review. Form@re-Open Journal per la Formazione in Rete, 23(2), 24-43. DOI: 10.36253/form-14639.
  23. Culcasi, I., Romano, L., & Cinque, M. (2021). Aprendizaje-servicio virtual 100% online [Virtual Service-Learning 100% online]. Edutec. Revista Electrónica de Tecnología Educativa, (78), 180-195. DOI: 10.21556/edutec.2021.78.2255.
  24. Directorate General of Education/ Ministry of Education Portugal (2017). Studentsʼprofile by the end of compulsory schooling. Retrieved from: https://dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Projeto_Autonomia_e_Flexibilidade/perfil_dos_alunos.pdf.
  25. England, T. K., Nagel, G. L., & Salter, S. P. (2020). Using collaborative learning to develop students’ soft skills. Journal of Education for Business, 95(2), 106-114. DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2019.1599797.
  26. European Commission (2018). The European higher education area in 2018: Bologna process implementation report. Publications Office of the European Union.
  27. European Project eLene4work (2015-2018). Available at: http://elene4work.eu.
  28. Evers, F. T., Rush, J. C., & Berdrow, I. (1998). The bases of competence: Skills for lifelong learning and employability. Jossey-Bass.
  29. Garcia, R., Dante Tan, R., Florendo, J., & Santos, N. (2020). 21st century soft skills in student-centered learning among first-year college students: A comparative study. International Journal of Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Research, 7(10), 6338-6341.
  30. Gavriluță, N., Grecu, S. P., & Chiriac, H. C. (2022). Sustainability and employability in the time of COVID-19. Youth, Education and entrepreneurship in EU countries. Sustainability, 14(3), 1589. DOI: 10.3390/su14031589.
  31. Groves, K. S. (2005). Gender differences in social and emotional skills and charismatic leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(3), 30-46. DOI: 10.1177/107179190501100303.
  32. Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2012). Hard evidence on soft skills. Labour Economics, 19(4), 451-464. DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2012.05.014.
  33. Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2014). Fostering and measuring skills: Interventions that improve character and cognition. In J.J. Heckman, J.E. Humphries, & T. Kautz (Eds.). The myth of achievement tests: The GED and the role of character in American life (pp. 341-430). University of Chicago Press.
  34. Hitlin, S. (2011). Values, personal identity, and the moral self. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx & V.L. Vignoles (Eds). Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 515-529). Springer.
  35. Hitlin, S., & Piliavin, J. A. (2004). Values: Reviving a dormant concept. Annual Review of Sociolology, 30, 359-393. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110640.
  36. Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Psychological Assessment Resources.
  37. Kautz, T., Heckman, J. J., Diris, R., Ter Weel, B., & Borghans, L. (2014). Fostering and measuring skills: Improving cognitive and non-cognitive skills to promote lifetime success. Cambridge.
  38. Kenny, D.A. (2015). Measuring Model fit. Available online: http://davidakenny.net/cm/fit.htm.
  39. Khan, A., Egbue, O., Palkie, B., & Madden, J. (2017). Active learning: Engaging students to maximize learning in an online course. Electronic Journal of ELearning, 15(2), 107-115.
  40. Kluckhohn C.K.M. (1951). Values and value Orientations in the theory of action. In T. Parsons, E. Sils (Eds.), Toward a General Theory of Action (pp. 388-433). Harvard University Press.
  41. Knafo, A., & Sagiv, L. (2004). Values and work environment: Mapping 32 occupations. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 19(3), 255-273. DOI: 10.1007/bf03173223.
  42. Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2006). Rediscovering the later version of Maslowʼs hierarchy of needs: Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification. Review of General Psychology, 10(4), 302-317. DOI: 10.1037/2F1089-2680.10.4.302.
  43. Kyllonen, P. C. (2013). Soft skills for the workplace. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(6), 16-23. DOI: 10.1080/00091383.2013.841516.
  44. Lebedeva, N., Schwartz, S. H., Van De Vijver, F. J., Plucker, J., & Bushina, E. (2019). Domains of everyday creativity and personal values. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2681. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02681.
  45. Levin, H. M. (2012). More than just test scores. Prospects, 42(3), 269-284. DOI: 10.1007/s11125-012-9240-z.
  46. Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., Norman, S. M., & Combs, G. M. (2006). Psychological capital development: toward a micro-intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 27(3), 387-393. DOI: 10.1002/job.373.
  47. Majid, S., Liming, Z., Tong, S., & Raihana, S. (2012). Importance of soft skills for education and career success. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 2(2), 1037-1042. DOI: 10.20533/ijcdse.2042.6364.2012.0147.
  48. Martin, T. (2019). Review of student soft skills development using the 5Ws/H approach resulting in a realistic, experiential, applied, active learning and teaching pedagogical classroom. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 19(1), 41-57. DOI: 10.21818/jbam.19.1.3.
  49. Matteson, M. L., Anderson, L., & Boyden, C. (2016). “Soft skills”: A phrase in search of meaning. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(1), 71-88. DOI: 10.1353/pla.2016.0009.
  50. McNatt, D. B. (2020). Service-learning: An experiment to increase interpersonal communication confidence and competence. Education & Training, 62(2), 129-144. DOI: 10.1108/ET-02-2019-0039.
  51. McQueen, A., & Klein, W. M. (2006). Experimental manipulations of selfaffirmation: A systematic review. Self and Identity, 5(4), 289-354. DOI: 10.1080/15298860600805325.
  52. Ministry of Education (2018). Essential Learning: Basic Education. Retrieved from http://www.dge.mec.pt/aprendizagens-essencial-ensino-basico.
  53. Mitchell, G. W., Skinner, L. B., & White, B. J. (2010). Essential soft skills for success in the twenty-first century workforce as perceived by business educators. Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 52(1), 43-53.
  54. Murcia Alvarez, E., Ramos, A., Tendais, I., & Rodrigues, R. B. (2021). Integrating children´ s values in policymaking: Challenges and opportunities in a diverse society. In VIII Congreso de la Red Española de Política Social (REPS) REPS 2021 Bilbao Cuidar la vida, garantizar la inclusión, convivir en diversidad: consensos y retos. Actas de Congreso (pp. 1029-1043). Universidad del Pais Vasco.
  55. Nagy, N., Froidevaux, A., & Hirschi, A. (2019). Lifespan perspectives on careers and career development. In B. Baltes, C.W. Rudolph, & H. Zacher (Eds). Work across the lifespan (pp. 235-259). Academic Press.
  56. Pask, E. J. (2005). Self-sacrifice, self-transcendence and nurses’ professional self. Nursing Philosophy, 6(4), 247-254. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-769X.2005.00215.x.
  57. Prada-Ospina, R., Zarate-Torres, R. A., & Rey, F. (2020). Relationship between leadership, behaviour and values. Revista Espacios, 41(36), 47-60.
  58. Rapa, L. J., Diemer, M. A., & Roseth, C. J. (2020). Can a values-affirmation intervention bolster academic achievement and raise critical consciousness? Results from a small-scale field experiment. Social Psychology of Education, 23(2), 537-557. DOI: 10.1007/s11218-020-09546-2.
  59. Riggio, R. E., Riggio, H. R., Salinas, C., & Cole, E. J. (2003). The role of social and emotional communication skills in leader emergence and effectiveness. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(2), 83-103. DOI: 10.1037/1089-2699.7.2.83.
  60. Roccas, S., & Sagiv, L. (2017). Values and behavior: Taking a cross cultural perspective. Springer.
  61. Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. Free press.
  62. Russo, C., Barni, D., Zagrean, I., & Danioni, F. (2021). Value consistency across relational roles and basic psychological needs satisfaction: The mediating role of self-concept clarity. Social Sciences, 10(8), 291-307. DOI: 10.3390/socsci10080291.
  63. Russo, C., Barni, D., Zagrean, I., Lulli, M. A., Vecchi, G., & Danioni, F. (2021). The resilient recovery from substance addiction: The role of selftranscendence values and hope. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 9(1), 1-20. DOI: 10.6092/2282-1619/mjcp-2902.
  64. Russo, C., Dell’Era, A., Zagrean, I., Danioni, F., & Barni, D. (2022). Activating self-transcendence values to promote prosocial behaviors among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: The moderating role of positive orientation. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 183(3), 263-277. DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2022.2058352.
  65. Russo, C., Zagrean, I., Mangialavori, S., Danioni, F., Cacioppo, M., & Barni, D. (2019). Comportamenti di uso problematico in adolescenza: il ruolo dei valori personali come fattori di protezione e di rischio [Problem use behaviors in adolescence: the role of personal values as protective and risk factors]. Psicologia Sociale, 14(3), 385-404. DOI: 10.1482/94941.
  66. Sagiv, L. (2002). Vocational interests and basic values. Journal of Career Assessment, 10(2), 233-257. DOI: 10.1177/2F1069072702010002007.
  67. Sagiv, L., Sverdlik, N., & Schwarz, N. (2011). To compete or to cooperate? Values’ impact on perception and action in social dilemma games. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(1), 64-77. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.729.
  68. Schneider, A. K. (2012). Teaching a new negotiation skills paradigm. Journal of Low and Policy, 39(1), 1-13.
  69. Schoemann, A. M., Boulton, A. J., & Short, S. D. (2017). Determining power and sample size for simple and complex mediation models. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(4), 379-386. DOI: 10.1177/2F1948550617715068.
  70. Schulz, B. (2008). The importance of soft skills: Education beyond academic knowledge. Journal of Language and Communication, 2(1), 146-154.
  71. Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6.
  72. Schwartz, S. H. (2003). A proposal for measuring value orientations across nations. [Chapter 7 in the Questionaire Development Report of the European Social Survay] http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/.
  73. Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). DOI: 10.9707/2307-0919.1116.
  74. Schwartz, S. H., Cieciuch, J., Vecchione, M., Davidov, E., Fischer, R., Beierlein, C., Ramos, A., Verkasalo, M., Lönnqvist, J. E., Demirutku, K., Dirilen-Gumus, O., & Konty, M. (2012). Refining the theory of basic individual values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(4), 663-688. DOI: 10.1037/a0029393.
  75. Sosik, J. J. (2005). The role of personal values in the charismatic leadership of corporate managers: A model and preliminary field study. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(2), 221-244. DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.01.002.
  76. Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized. Cambridge University Press.
  77. Sverdlik, N., & Oreg, S. (2009). Personal values and conflicting motivational forces in the context of imposed change. Journal of Personality, 77(5), 1437-1466. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00588.x.
  78. Tartakovsky, E., & Cohen, E. (2014). Values in the bank: Value preferences of bank frontline workers and branch managers. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23(5), 769-782. DOI: 10.1080/1359432X.2013.794933.
  79. Tischler, L., Giambatista, R., McKeage, R., & McCormick, D. (2016). Servant leadership and its relationships with core self-evaluation and job satisfaction. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 9(1), 1-20.
  80. Touloumakos, A. K. (2020). Expanded yet restricted: A mini review of the soft skills literature. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2207. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02207.
  81. Uggeri, M., Barlassina, L., & Arnold, D. (2019). Transnational analysis of the transferability to higher education of corporate active learning on soft skill. eLene4Life consortium.
  82. UNESCO (2015). Replantear la educación: ¿Hacia un bien común mundial? [Rethinking education: Towards a global common good?]. Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación.
  83. Valieva, F. (2020, March). Soft skills vs professional burnout: the case of technical universities [Paper presentation]. In Conference of Integrating Engineering Education and Humanities for Global Intercultural Perspectives. Springer, Cham.
  84. Wats, M., & Wats, R. K. (2009). Developing soft skills in students. International Journal of Learning, 15(12), 1-10. DOI: 10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v15i12/46032.
  85. West, C. W. (2017). A service learning project on aluminum recycling - Developing soft skills in a material and energy balances course. Chemical Engineering Education, 51(4), 155-162.
  86. Wong, B., Chiu, Y. L. T., Copsey-Blake, M., & Nikolopoulou, M. (2022). A mapping of graduate attributes:What can we expect from UK university students?. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(4), 1340-1355. DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2021.1882405.
  87. Yorke, M., & Knight, P. (2004). Self-theories: Some implications for teaching and learning in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 29(1), 25-37. DOI: 10.1080/1234567032000164859.
  88. Yue, C. A., Men, L. R., & Berger, B. K. (2021). Leaders as communication agents. In L.R. Men & A.T. Verčič (Eds). Current Trends and Issues in Internal Communication (pp. 19-38). Palgrave Macmillan.
  89. Yue, C. A., Men, L. R., & Ferguson, M. A. (2019). Bridging transformational leadership, transparent communication, and employee openness to change: The mediating role of trust. Public Relations Review, 45(3), 101779. DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.04.012.
  90. Zhang, Q., Lin, S., Liu, J., & Zhang, J. (2021). Role of college environment on students’ soft skills: Achievement goal structure. College Teaching. DOI: 10.1080/87567555.2021.1971603.

Metriche

Caricamento metriche ...