Individuals need a multiplicity of skills to achieve diverse life goals. These skills are general in nature and relevant for all kinds of occupations, considered necessary to provide a foundation for effective and successful participation in the social and economic life of advanced economies. The OECD has developed two major data instruments to assess these skills: the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessing 15-year-olds in literacy, numeracy and science; and the Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) assessing adults aged 16-65 in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments, also called "information-processing skills". They are based on recognised taxonomies in personality psychology, particularly the "Big Five" factors (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness). So far, no comprehensive measures exist, but conceptual work is being carried out to evaluate the potential of developing measurement instruments in the future (OECD, 2015c).