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

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.