Rising complexity and the rapid pace of technological progress spearhead the need for independent individuals who can adapt changes on the go. Social and emotional skills play a role in the ability to acclimatise these changes. This paper presents a general review on social and emotional competencies by exploring their nature and structure, their development, their cross-cultural comparability, their relevance on education, economy and life, and the factors that influence them. In addition, this research presents a conceptual framework of OECD’s Study on Social and Emotional Skills. The relationship between skills and a number of individual and societal welfare (e.g. education, employment, income, health) are examined. This paper also discusses the structure of social and emotional skills within children, and the course of these skills across a lifetime. It showcases evidence of skills malleability as well as their pertinence across a broad range of cultural contexts.