Industry 4.0 has highlighted the nurturance of affective skills in higher education institutions including ODL for meaningful functioning effectively in both society and professional workplaces. The present study explores the nature of pedagogical interactions in ODL that could lead to confidence building among students, from the sociological and psychosocial theoretical perspectives. The data collected from 390 IGNOU students enrolled between 2017 and 2022 pursuing under-graduation and post-graduation were statistically analysed using CFA and ANOVA. The findings revealed that constructive interactions with teachers and peers foster self-awareness, active listening skills, critical thinking skills, reflective skills, and emotional intelligence, leading to confidence and holistic personality development to be able to function meaningfully in a workplace. This also enables an individual to contribute towards strengthening of a positive, safe and mutually beneficial environment, a much sought after ability in the fast-emerging industry 5.0. The study reveals the nature of social interactions to be facilitated using varied pedagogical practices in ODL, which could further be explored using the ever evolving synchronous and asynchronous interactive platforms in the twenty-first century.