See also: Human and social skills, Peace skills, Interpersonal skills and Intercultural skills.
See the WHO definition below…
The WHO definition is the one most widely used in reference documents available on the Internet:
“Psychosocial skills are a person’s ability to respond effectively to the demands and challenges of everyday life. It is a person’s ability to maintain a state of mental well-being, by adapting appropriate and positive behavior in relationships with others, their own culture and their environment. Psychosocial skills have an important role to play in promoting health in its broadest sense, in terms of physical, mental and social well-being. Particularly when health problems are linked to behavior, and when behavior is linked to an inability to respond effectively to the stresses and pressures of life, improving psychosocial competence could be an important element in promoting health and well-being, since behaviors are increasingly implicated in the origins of health problems.”
Source:
World Health Organization (WHO), Mental Health Program. Life Skills Education in School. Geneva, Switzerland, 1994. Developed by a team from the WHO Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention. WHO reference: WHO/MNH/PSF/93.7A. Rev. 21993.