Symposium Summary:
The VIA classification of character strengths and virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) has sparked considerable interest in research and practice and is considered one of the major achievements and a cornerstone in positive psychology. A broad package of innovations was presented; for example, a model of character, the identification of six core virtues from virtue catalogs, the concepts of character strengths and signature strengths, the list of criteria that define character strengths, a list of 24 character strengths that fulfill these criteria, an assignment of strengths to core virtues, and methods for assessing the strengths in different age groups. Character strengths and virtues are expected to contribute to the outcomes of a good life, such as subjective fulfillment, objective fulfillment, and civic/societal recognition. The current compilation of presentations addresses different ways how theory and research progressed by either testing basic postulates of the theory, sharpening the assessment tool, and presenting central new validity information. The first presentation gives an update on the state of the art in measuring character strengths and presents the VIA Assessment Suite along with a variety of validation studies. The second presentation tackles a key criterion for character strengths, namely whether they are indeed morally valued. The third talk presents first evidence that character strengths are indeed involved in such a key concept as fulfillment in life. The last presentation readdresses the question of how strength and core virtues are related.
Symposium Presentation 1 Proposal:
Title: The VIA Assessment Suite for Adults: Evidence for Validity and Relationships with Other Variables
Presenter: Robert E. McGrath
Abstract:
In 2016, a comprehensive review of limitations of the VIA Inventory of Strengths resulted in the decision to develop a revision of the instrument, called the VIA Inventory of Strengths Revised, and develop two ancillary instruments, the Global Assessment of Character Strengths and the Signature Strengths Survey. The resulting VIA Assessment Suite for Adults was finalized in 2019. In addition to the sample used to develop the new instruments, three additional samples have now been collected that completed all three instruments. This presentation will review the consistent evidence for the validity and reliability of these tools. Having established the validity of the instruments, the presentation will then move on to discuss some of the intriguing findings that have emerged through their use, such as relationships to demographics and flourishing, and patterns of signature strengths.
Symposium Presentation 2 Proposal:
Title: Scrutinizing the Criteria for Character Strengths: Laypersons Assert That Every Strength Is Positively Morally Valued, Even in the Absence of Tangible Outcomes
Presenter: Alexander G. Stahlmann
Abstract:
A firefighter bursts into a house engulfed by flames, desperate to save the landlord's only child. Did they act correctly? What if they can neither save the child nor themself? In this talk, we will present first evidence on one of Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman's most pivotal criteria for VIA character strengths: that traits like those endorsed by the firefighter–bravery, authenticity, kindness–are positively morally valued by laypersons, even if the corresponding actions' consequences may be dire. We tested this assumption in an online experiment: N = 230 German-speaking participants rated several stories like the one above as to whether the depicted agent's actions were morally correct. Our results suggest that the criterion stands: participants perceived every strength as positively morally valued when consequences were undetermined, and positive consequences did not account for or increase this effect. However, moral value seems to come in degrees, and some strengths may be valued more strongly than others (top five in this study: judgment, honesty, kindness, fairness, and hope). We discuss these results via-à-vis the literature on individual differences in ethical decision making and provide preliminary hypotheses on the role of inclinations toward deontology (e.g., "torture is wrong regardless of tangible positive outcomes") and consequentialism (e.g., "torture can be good if it accounts for more positive than negative outcomes"). Our findings highlight the importance of scrutinizing the criteria for character strengths, and our experimental paradigm can offer a template to further investigate character strengths' moral evaluation and other fundamental assumptions in upcoming studies.
Symposium Presentation 3 Proposal:
Title: Are Character Strengths Related to a Fulfilled Life? Preliminary Evidence Across Measures and the Life Course
Presenter: Doris Baumann
Abstract:
Character strengths are conceptualized as contributing to individual and collective fulfillments (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). While recent study findings demonstrate that the use of one’s highest strengths in an excellent way was experienced as fulfilling (Giuliani, Ruch, & Gander, 2020), little is known about the relationship between character strengths and a long-term form of fulfillment. On the basis of a newly developed, multi-dimensional measure of fulfillment in life (a long version referring to the whole life in retrospection [FLS] and a short version referring to the actual life stage [FULS-SF]) the present studies attempted to examine this relationship in younger and older adults. In Study 1, participants (N = 233; aged 50-93) completed the Character Strengths Rating Form (CSRF) and the Fulfilled Life Scale (FLS). In Study 2, participants (N = 435, aged 18-78) completed the VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS), the VIA Inventory of Character Strengths Revised (VIA-IS-R) and the Fulfilling Life Scale Short Form (FULS-SF). The pattern of associations across the different measures of characters strengths and fulfillment in life as well as in a younger and older age group were examined. It was expected that the relationships might vary depending on age and the time frame for fulfillment. Results indicated that almost all character strengths predicted fulfillment and a similar pattern of associations across the different measures was found. Besides hope and zest that emerged as the strongest predictors for fulfillment for both time frames, perspective, bravery and leadership were among the five strengths with the highest positive correlations with fulfillment encompassing the whole life. The size of a few correlations between character strengths and fulfillment at the present life stage varied for younger and older adults. The results suggest that character strengths indeed contribute to fulfillment in life, in both the short and long-term perspective, and at different life stages.
Symposium Presentation 4 Proposal:
Title: Character Strengths and Virtues: Ways how They Relate to Each Other
Presenter: Willibald Ruch
Abstract:
With the VIA Classification Peterson and Seligman (2004) introduced a model of character that entails both a vertical dimension, representing elements of the good character at different conceptual levels of abstraction (i.e., virtues, character strengths, and situational themes), and a horizontal dimension, distinguishing among different entries within each level of abstraction. The study of virtue catalogues from different regions of the world helped to identify “core virtues” (referred to as “High Six;” i.e., wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence) and 24 strengths fulfilled the criteria set for strengths and were then assigned to these core virtues. The authors implied that there might be a reformulation of the organization of the strengths under the core virtues based on empirical research. Five studies tested either the hypotheses that a) strengths are processes or mechanisms that define the virtues; i.e., are distinguishable routes to displaying one or another of the virtues, (b) that character strengths are similar to each other as they share a common function, c) that character strengths rise and fall together with measured virtues. Different samples (laypersons, philosophers, psychologists, theologians), different instruments (VIA-IS,VIA-R) and also different criteria for the assignments (correlations, prototypicality ratings, perceived functions ratings, virtues perceived in excellent enactments of strengths) were used. The merits and shortcomings of the different rationals for these studies will be discussed and the outcomes will be condensed to a model on the strength-virtue relationship.