Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, and Cowardly Lion: The three-factor model of virtue

Measuring Global Character Dimensions: An Ant Colony Optimization Approach toward Three Core Strength Scales

The Values in Action (VIA) framework encompasses 24 universally valued character strengths. Recent factor-analytic work has identified three global core strengths (metatraits) that proved to be well-interpretable and cross-culturally replicable: positivity, dependability, and mastery. However, there are no short scales to economically measure these core strengths that would encourage (large-scale) survey-based research on the global level of the VIA trait space. In the present study, we selected 18 items to measure the three metatraits from the 96-item IPIP-VIA-R inventory. To optimize the item selection while considering multiple psychometric criteria simultaneously, we made use of Ant Colony Optimization. Thereby, we obtained balanced-keyed scales that cover the heterogeneous constructs well, showed good model fit and reliability across six samples from Germany and the U.K. (total N = 2,754), and achieved scalar measurement invariance across countries. Furthermore, we demonstrated each scale's validity by locating the three core strengths in a nomological net with personality and value metatraits, life satisfaction, and behavioral criteria. Available in the public domain in English and German, these both valid and economical core strength scales may further stimulate integrative research on personality and values.

A Summary of Construct Validity Evidence for Two Measures of Character Strengths

The VIA Inventory of Strengths has become the most widely used instrument in the world for measuring the construct referred to character strengths. However, several limitations were noted in its original development. In response, the VIA Assessment Suite for Adults was developed as a battery of instruments intended to address those gaps. The suite includes two inventories providing dimensional measures of the character strengths: the VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised and the Global Assessment of Character Strengths. Short forms were also developed for each. So far, five reasonably sized samples of adults (total N = 7,924) have provided evidence for the empirical validity of some subset of these instruments, making them the most thoroughly vetted measures of character strengths available today. This article aggregates previously available and new findings on their construct validity. Evidence concerning substantive validity, structural validity, and external validity is reviewed, and in some cases aggregated across samples. The findings generally support the construct validity of the instruments evaluated according to all three standards, with exceptions noted. Recommendations are offered for their use in research and applied settings.

Character virtues prospectively predict responses to situational stressors in daily life in clinical and subclinical samples

BACKGROUND

Character strengths and virtues may shape responses to stressors and risk for anxious and depressive distress. However, most studies have relied on cross-sectional designs, and it remains unclear whether virtues directly predict distress in daily life or buffer context-specific stressors. We tested whether higher-order intellectual (inquisitiveness), intrapersonal (self-control), and interpersonal virtues (caring) prospectively predicted coping responses and lower symptoms, and moderated effects of specific stressors on distress.

METHODS

Treatment-seeking individuals diagnosed with anxiety/depression (N = 81; Study 1) and students (N = 112; Study 2) completed the VIA Inventory of Strengths survey at baseline, then experience-sampling of daily symptoms and situational responses (perceptions and/or coping strategies) over seven days (Study 1) or five weeks (Study 2).

RESULTS

Multilevel models generally linked virtues to more adaptive daily responses during individuals' worst and best daily events (Study 1) and worst events (Study 2), but inquisitiveness unexpectedly predicted higher symptoms in both studies. Additionally, virtues buffered against the within-person effects of specific stressor perceptions on distress (Study 2).

CONCLUSIONS

The relevance of character virtues for anxiety, stress, and coping may be complex, predicting higher or lower symptoms depending on both the virtue and the situational context.

Representative Sampling of the Via Assessment Suite for Adults

Character strengths have become a popular topic in personality research. A set of questionnaires has recently been developed as measures of character strengths: the VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised, two 96-item short forms of that instrument, and two new measures called the Global Assessment of Character Strengths and Signature Strengths Survey. Collectively, these are referred to as the VIA Assessment Suite for Adults. Prior research has supported the reliability and validity of these measures. The current study extended those findings through a demographically stratified sample of 1,765 U.S. resident adults. Results indicated the scores were interchangeable across all three versions of the VIA-IS, irrespective of whether the items are all positively keyed or a mix of positive and negative items. In addition, the VIA-IS-R factor structure is also consistent with a previously identified three-factor model for the strengths. By freeing residual covariances, a model was developed for which adequate fit was replicable. This provided the foundation for demonstrating measurement invariance. The present study also explored differences in strengths across demographic categories and evaluated various approaches to identifying key (signature) strengths for the respondents. Recommendations on the use of the different instruments are provided.

Good Character at College: The Combined Role of Second-Order Character Strength Factors and Phronesis Motivation in Undergraduate Academic Outcomes

A renewed interest in the study of character and virtue has recently emerged in the fields of Education and Psychology. The latest research has confirmed the association between virtuous consistent behaviours and academic positive outcomes. However, the motivational dimension of character (the intentions underlying the patterns of observed behaviours) has received little attention. This research aims to extend the knowledge on this topic by examining the predictive relationships between the behavioural and motivational dimensions of character, with reference to academic engagement, career self-doubt and performance of Spanish university students. A total of 183 undergraduates aged 18–30 (142 of whom were women) from the north of Spain completed specific parts of self-report questionnaires, including the Values in Action VIA-72, a Spanish translated and validated version of the Moral Self-Relevance Measure MSR, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Student Scale UWES-S9. The collected data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. The behavioural dimension of character (character strength factors of caring, self-control and inquisitiveness) showed positive associations with academic engagement and performance. The motivational dimension of character (phronesis motivation), was negatively related to career self-doubt. For the first time, the present study has provided support for the contribution of both dimensions of character to undergraduate academic outcomes.

Do Strengths Converge into Virtues? An Item-, Virtue-, and Scale-Level Analysis of the Italian Values in Action Inventory of Strengths-120

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) is a widely-used measure for character. Its factorial structure is still debated, however, and previous validation studies usually failed to examine the unidimensionality of the single character strengths. In addition, no studies to date have examined its Italian version. We validated the structure of the Italian short form of the VIA-IS in a sample of 16722 participants. Using confirmatory factor analysis and treating items as ordinal variables, we followed three simple, but too often neglected, steps: we studied the unidimensionality of the single strengths first, then their convergence into second-order virtues, and then fitted a hierarchical model that includes items, strengths and virtues, as originally proposed by Peterson and Seligman. All strengths except "love of learning" were unidimensional, and both the virtues and the final hierarchical models showed acceptable fit indices, unlike three models derived from an exploratory factor analysis. The same findings emerged for a smaller sample of 1035 participants. Finally, both character strengths and virtues showed positive relations with general mental health and negative relations with psychological distress. These results are discussed considering previous studies on the factorial structure of the VIA-IS.

Revisiting the hierarchical structure of the 24 VIA character strengths: Three global dimensions may suffice to capture their essence

The Values in Action (VIA) framework maps 24 character strengths onto six more abstract virtues through a theoretical classification. However, compared to other individual difference constructs, there is little consensus about the factor-analytic structure of the VIA trait space. Applying Horn’s parallel analysis, Goldberg’s Bass-ackwards approach, and cross-country congruency analysis, we scrutinize the factor-analytic solutions-hierarchy of the 24 VIA strengths with the aim to identify one or more useful global levels of abstraction (akin to the Big Five, HEXACO/Big Six, or personality metatraits). We assessed the 24 character strengths with the psychometrically refined IPIP-VIA-R inventory in two large and heterogeneous samples from Germany and the UK (total N ≈ 2,000). Results suggested that three global dimensions suffice to capture the essence of character strengths: Level III recovered more than 50% of the total variation of the 24 character strengths in well-interpretable, global/general, cross-culturally replicable dimensions. We provisionally labeled them positivity, dependability, and mastery. Their superordinate Level-II-dimensions were reminiscent of the “Big Two” personality metatraits Dynamism and Social Self-Regulation. Our results advance the understanding of the VIA character trait space and may serve as a basis for developing scales to assess these global dimensions.

Towards an Integrative Taxonomy of Social-Emotional Competences

Social-emotional competences are critical for positive development and significantly predict educational and occupational attainment, health, and well-being. There is however a lack of consensus about the number of core competences, and how these are defined and operationalized. This divergence in approach challenges future research as well as the scientific usefulness of the construct. In an effort to create an integrative framework, this focused review evaluates different approaches of conceptualizing and assessing social-emotional competences. Building on shared conceptions, an integrative taxonomy “DOMASEC” is introduced, specifying core domains and manifestations of social-emotional competences that bridge across frameworks focusing on social and emotional learning, personality traits (such as the Big Five) and self-determination theory. Core domains include intrapersonal, interpersonal and task-oriented competencies, differentiating between affective, cognitive, and behavioral manifestations of competences across these domains. It is argued that the integrative taxonomy facilitates the conceptual specification of key constructs, that it helps to better organize the multitude of terms and definitions used, and to guide the conceptualization and operationalization of social-emotional competences and their various facets.

Using the VIA Classification to Advance a Psychological Science of Virtue

The VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtue has received substantial attention since its inception as a model of 24 dimensions of positive human functioning, but less so as a potential contributor to a psychological science on the nature of virtue. The current paper presents an overview of how this classification could serve to advance the science of virtue. Specifically, we summarize previous research on the dimensional versus categorical characterization of virtue, and on the identification of cardinal virtues. We give particular attention to the three-dimensional model of cardinal virtues that includes moral, self-regulatory, and intellectual domains. We also discuss the possibility that these three clusters be treated as fundamental elements of a virtue model, meaning that they clearly and directly contribute to both individual and communal flourishing across various cultures. This discussion includes a summary of previous speculations about the evolution of adaptations underlying the human capacity for using behavioral repertoires associated with the three virtues, as well as discussing ways in which they simultaneously enhance community and individual, in the last case focusing particularly on evidence concerning mating potential. We then discuss the relationship between the evolutionary perspective on virtues and Aristotle’s concept of the reciprocity of the virtues. Finally, we provide speculations about the nature of practical wisdom. While accepting the potential value of future revisions to the VIA model, that model even under its current conditions has the potential to generate a number of intriguing and testable hypotheses about the nature of virtue.

The Character Strengths Response: An Urgent Call to Action

A model on the role of character strengths in individual, collective, and species success is proffered. It is derived from viewing character strengths from a species perspective as opposed to one of individual differences/personality psychology. The history of the VIA initiative on character science is overviewed, and results to date are summarized in terms of promoting well-being, helping to accomplish aspirational intentions, and allowing the greater good of the collective to grow. "The character strengths response" is described as the response capacities that character strengths may enable for helping us fulfill the human promise of surviving, thriving, and successfully creating a next-generation so that individuals and the collective flourish while also living in harmonious balance with other species. An argument is presented that there is an urgent need for advancing population-wide psychological maturity to be better prepared to navigate the difficult decisions that accompany growing technological powers, and that the character strengths response warrants special attention of research funding to accomplish this imperative.

Lost in Translation: The Construct Representation of Character Virtues

A seemingly universal lesson is that anything taken to its extreme is detrimental. Indeed, there has been growing interest in testing this idea within psychology. These studies have often been framed in terms of Aristotle's doctrine of the golden mean or the idea that virtue lies between the vices of deficiency and excess. Recent explicit reviews of this hypothesis in the psychological literature have led to the paradoxical conclusion that one can have too much virtue (i.e., the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect) despite virtue being identified by the golden mean. We argue in this article that this conclusion is due to a reductionist account of virtues in psychology and the resultant measurement of virtues as general dispositional tendencies in behavior. We review philosophical theory on the golden mean to show that the relationship between virtue and relevant behavior is fundamentally about situation-specific optimality. Using schematic models, we contrast the former measurement approach against the latter to explain the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect and further demonstrate why virtues cannot be properly measured as general tendencies in behavior. We conclude with methodological implications of our theory-informed approach to virtue measurement for research design, evaluation, and conceptualization.

Cross-Validation of the VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised and its Short Forms

The VIA Inventory of Strengths is an extremely popular index of the 24 character strengths that comprise the VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues. The inventory has recently been extensively revised. The current study sought to evaluate the reliability and validity of the revised VIA Inventory, including newly developed short forms and scales measuring the virtue component of the VIA Classification. This study used two samples of adults, one comprised of 743 individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and another of 631 individuals who accessed the VIA Institute of Character website to complete an earlier version of the VIA Inventory. Participants completed the new version of the inventory as well as a measure of related behaviors. The current study examines internal consistency, factor structure, test-retest reliability, criterion-related validity, convergent and discriminant validity, and item discrimination statistics. The results suggest the inventory generally meets psychometric standards for a measure of the targeted character strengths and virtues.

Trait Appreciation of Beauty: A Story of Love, Transcendence, and Inquiry

This review of the trait of appreciation of beauty (AoB) draws from the literature in personality psychology, philosophy, religion, neuroscience, neuro-aesthetics, evolutionary psychology, and the psychology of morality. We demonstrate that AoB can be mapped onto a definition of appreciation that includes perceptual, cognitive, emotional, trait, virtue, and valuing elements. A classic component of defining beauty, unity-in-diversity, is described based on the works of a variety of major philosophers. We next describe that there are at least four channels of appreciation of beauty: natural beauty, artistic beauty, moral beauty, and beautiful ideas. Examining the neuro-aesthetics research indicates that many networks of the brain are involved in mental acts of appreciating beauty, but the medial orbital front cortex (mOFC) is implicated across all four channels of beauty. We then explain how the trait of AoB is a member of three different families of traits: traits of love, traits of transcendence, and traits of inquiry. Next we briefly explain why Kant may have been more correct than Hegel concerning beauty and the good soul. We then present evidence that women may appreciate beauty somewhat more than men. Data from many cultures and nations consistently indicate this. After that we claim AoB leads to individual and collective flourishing. We examine and summarize studies that indicate appreciation of natural beauty leads to a wide variety of positive outcomes; we focus on the importance of open-mindedness that accompanies engagement with artistic beauty; and we summarize studies regarding the moral emotion of elevation and appreciation of moral beauty. Suggested future directions for research are embedded in each subsection of the paper.

Exploring the “unity” of the virtues: The case of an allocentric quintet

This article has two interrelated aims. First we explore a novel conceptual analysis of the “unity” of the virtues. Virtues come in clusters differentiated by broad functions within overall character. We identify three such clusters—virtues of intelligent caring, virtues of willpower, and virtues of humility. Virtues within a cluster are “unified” by some commonality, e.g., justice, compassion, and truthfulness all are kinds of intelligent caring. The allocentric virtues, a sub-class of the virtue of intelligent caring, are forms of intelligent caring about people. Virtues of willpower are capacities to manage impulses: desires, emotions, and habits. Virtues of humility are absences of vices of pride. These clusters support and exploit one another in a healthy character. Second, we explore whether empirical psychology can support conceptual analysis such as we propose. Our discussion of the conceptual analysis and empirical studies of the relations between pairs of allocentric virtues illustrates this exploration.

Are Measures of Character and Personality Distinct? Evidence From Observed-Score and True-Score Analyses

Two studies were conducted to investigate redundancy between the character strengths found in the VIA model of character and familiar personality facets. Study 1 used a community sample (N = 606) that completed a measure of character strengths, four personality inventories, and 17 criterion measures. The second study used Mechanical Turk workers (N = 498) who completed measures of the HEXACO and VIA models and 111 criterion variables. Analyses were conducted using both observed scores and true score estimates, evaluating both predictive and conceptual overlap. Eight of 24 VIA scales proved to be largely redundant with one HEXACO personality facet, but only one VIA scale (Appreciation of Beauty) was largely redundant with Five Factor facets. All strength scales except Spirituality overlapped substantially with at least one personality facet. The results suggest the VIA Classification variables are strongly related to commonly measured personality facets, but the two models are not redundant.