title: Hard evidence on soft skills.
abstract: This paper summarizes recent evidence on what achievement tests measure; how achievement tests relate to other measures of "cognitive ability" like IQ and grades; the important skills that achievement tests miss or mismeasure, and how much these skills matter in life. Achievement tests miss, or perhaps more accurately, do not adequately capture,soft skills-personality traits, goals, motivations, and preferences that are valued in the labor market, in school, and in many other domains. The larger message of this paper is that soft skills predict success in life, that they causally produce that success, and that programs that enhance soft skills have an important place in an effective portfolio of public policies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Chicago, 1126 E. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA ; American Bar Foundation, 750 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611, USA ; University College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Heckman
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kautz
keywords: Achievement tests; Cognition; IQ; Personality
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1997 Mar;121(2):219-45
references.pmid: 9100487
references.citation: Behav Genet. 2001 May;31(3):243-73
references.pmid: 11699599
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2010 May;13(5):538-9
references.pmid: 20348919
references.citation: Nature. 2005 Jun 2;435(7042):673-6
references.pmid: 15931222
references.citation: Child Dev. 2011 Jan-Feb;82(1):405-32
references.pmid: 21291449
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Oct 11;102(41):14931-6
references.pmid: 16192352
references.citation: Pers Individ Dif. 2011 Aug 1;51(3):315-320
references.pmid: 21731170
references.citation: Brain Res. 2008 Apr 18;1205:55-69
references.pmid: 18353284
references.citation: Am Psychol. 2006 Apr;61(3):204-17
references.pmid: 16594837
references.citation: Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2008 Feb 1;17(1):31-35
references.pmid: 19756219
references.citation: Perspect Psychol Sci. 2007 Dec;2(4):313-45
references.pmid: 26151971
references.citation: Science. 2006 Sep 29;313(5795):1893-4
references.pmid: 17008512
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 2010 Apr;78(2):156-68
references.pmid: 20350027
references.citation: Econometrica. 2010 May 1;78(3):883-931
references.pmid: 20563300
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2007 Jun;92(6):1087-101
references.pmid: 17547490
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2010 Jun;21(6):820-8
references.pmid: 20435951
references.citation: Nature. 1997 Jul 31;388(6641):468-71
references.pmid: 9242404
references.citation: Psychol Monogr. 1966;80(1):1-28
references.pmid: 5340840
references.citation: Rev Econ Stat. 2010 May;92(2):244-262
references.pmid: 20625528
references.citation: J Public Econ. 2010 Feb 1;94(1-2):114-128
references.pmid: 21804653
references.citation: J Res Pers. 2009 Apr 1;43(2):137-145
references.pmid: 20161194
references.citation: Clin Psychol Rev. 2008 Dec;28(8):1326-42
references.pmid: 18708274
references.citation: J Appl Behav Anal. 1972 Winter;5(4):477-84
references.pmid: 16795371
references.citation: J Appl Behav Anal. 1976 Spring;9(1):19-23
references.pmid: 16795514
references.citation: Science. 2007 Nov 30;318(5855):1387-8
references.pmid: 18048670
references.citation: Am Psychol. 2012 Feb-Mar;67(2):130-59
references.pmid: 22233090
references.citation: Am Econ Rev. 2013 Oct;103(6):2052-2086
references.pmid: 24634518
references.citation: J Eur Econ Assoc. 2013 Dec 1;11(6):1231-1255
references.pmid: 30546272
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2004 Jan;86(1):162-73
references.pmid: 14717634
references.citation: J Appl Behav Anal. 1972 Fall;5(3):317-9
references.pmid: 16795353
references.citation: Science. 1994 May 20;264(5162):1102-5
references.pmid: 8178168
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jul 5;103(27):10155-10162
references.pmid: 16801553
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2006 Jan;132(1):1-25
references.pmid: 16435954
references.citation: Quant Econom. 2010;1(1):1-46
references.pmid: 23255883
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 1994 Feb;85(1):25-37
references.pmid: 8165922
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Dec;1094:1-12
references.pmid: 17347337
references.citation: J Clin Psychol. 1991 Mar;47(2):277-84
references.pmid: 2030135
references.citation: Q J Econ. 2011;126(4):1593-660
references.pmid: 22256342