Some philosophical concerns about how the VIA classifies character traits and the VIA-IS measures them

Forming Evaluations of Moral Character: How Are Multiple Pieces of Information Prioritized and Integrated?

Evaluating other people's moral character is a crucial social cognitive task. However, the cognitive processes by which people seek out, prioritize, and integrate multiple pieces of character-relevant information have not been studied empirically. The first aim of this research was to examine which character traits are considered most important when forming an impression of a person's overall moral character. The second aim was to understand how differing levels of trait expression affect overall character judgments. Four preregistered studies and one supplemental study (total N = 720), using five different measures of importance and sampling undergraduates, online workers, and community members, found that our participants placed the most importance on the traits honest, helpful, compassionate, loyal, and responsible. Also, when integrating the information that they have learned, our participants seemed to engage in a simple averaging process in which all available, relevant information is combined in a linear fashion to form an overall evaluation of moral character. This research provides new insights into the cognitive processes by which evaluations of moral character are formed.

Character and Trust in Crisis Leadership: Probing the Relationships Among Character, Identification-Based Trust, and Perceptions of Effectiveness in Political Leadership During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to explore the relationships among character, identification-based trust, and perceptions of leadership effectiveness in the context of crisis leadership. Focusing on the leadership of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we first explore whether Canadians of voting age believe character is important in political leadership during the pandemic. Second, we examine voter perceptions of the importance of the dimensions of character identified by Crossan et al. (2017) and to what extent voters perceive Trudeau demonstrates the behaviors associated with these dimensions. Third, we explore the role of identification-based trust in the relationship between character and perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Fourth, we study the relationships between character, trust, and effectiveness during dynamic conditions where the stakes for citizens with respect to health and social well-being are high. The results of our study connect character to trust and perceived effectiveness of a political leader during a crisis.

Character strengths, moral motivation and vocational identity in adolescents and young adults: a scoping review

Past reviews have examined the association between positive personality traits known as character strengths and work-related outcomes. However, little is known about the role of positive traits in the pre-career stage. This study aims to fill this gap by mapping the peer-reviewed literature on the relationships between character strengths, moral motivation and vocational identity in adolescents and young adult students. Scopus and Web of Science databases were used to identify English written sources published between 1980 and October 2020. Documents had to include one of the 24 positive psychology character strengths or a moral motivation construct (moral reasoning, moral identity or moral emotions) and one vocational identity process (commitment, exploration or reconsideration). 136 documents were selected (123 quantitative, 8 qualitative, and 5 theoretical). 15 strengths were studied together with a vocational identity process. The most investigated strengths were prudence (27.9%) curiosity (20.6%), hope (20.6%) and love (19.9%). Only one moral motivation construct (the moral emotion of empathy) was associated with vocational commitment. Four character strengths were the most studied in association with vocational identity. These strengths coincided with some skills and competencies promoted in career counselling. Some suggestions for future research on vocational development and character education are stated.

The Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Encouragement Character Strength Scale in Selected Undergraduate Students and Teachers

The Encouragement Character Strength Scale (ECSS) is a self-report measure of encouragement, which refers to a tendency to enjoy and perceive oneself as being accomplished in communicating affirmations to motivate others. Although it is theoretically assumed as an overarching construct consisting of two domain-specific factors (i.e., perceived ability and enjoyment), there is inconclusive evidence regarding the most optimal factor structure of the encouragement construct. This study evaluated the factor structure, measurement invariance, and criterion-related validity of the Chinese version of the ECSS among teachers and undergraduate students in mainland China. Results showed that the bifactor model of encouragement demonstrated the best fit among undergraduate students and teachers. There was evidence supporting the measurement invariance of this factor structure across type of samples (i.e., teachers and undergraduate students) and gender. Ancillary bifactor indices indicate the superiority of using the ECSS's overall or general factor over subscale scores. The ECSS total score also showed internal consistency and temporal stability. A review of correlations between encouragement and criterion variables (i.e., kindness, hope, agreeableness, and extraversion) indicates that effect sizes ranged from moderate to large. Furthermore, the encouragement general factor was positively correlated with both psychological well-being and work engagement after controlling for the aforementioned criterion variables and demographic covariates.

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.

Character Strengths as "Values in Action": Linking Character Strengths With Values Theory - An Exploratory Study of the Case of Gratitude and Self-Transcendence

Character strengths are widely studied positive traits considered to be “values in action,” reflecting morally valued virtues. They are hypothesized to serve as pathways to the manifestation of values in life for the benefit of individuals and societies. However, there is surprisingly limited theoretical writing and empirical research on the expected links of character strengths with specific values [e.g., as defined by Schwartz (1992)] or on character strengths as the pathway for behavioral and social manifestations of these values. In this paper, we delineate theoretical links between the two theories and outline their implications. We then provide an initial empirical examination of a specific character strength – gratitude, as a pathway from Schwartz’s self-transcendence values (self-reported) to prosocial behavior and peer acceptance (rated by peers), in two samples of adolescents (9th grade and 11th grade). The findings indicated that most pathways were significant, providing initial support for the theoretical model. However, in one of the samples, the indirect path from self-transcendence values to prosocial behavior was only marginally significant. Taken together, the findings point to the need for further research on the role of character strengths in creating a pathway from values to various social outcomes.

Does the Excellent Enactment of Highest Strengths Reveal Virtues?

Two studies examined the assumption that character strengths enable virtues and facilitate the good life. Study 1 validated a “layperson’s excellent enactment of highest strengths paradigm”. This paradigm states that more appropriate assignments of character strengths to virtues are obtained when based on descriptions of highest character strengths enacted in an excellent way, than when based on lowest character strengths, or typical enactments. A sample of N = 230 German-speaking participants provided descriptions of situations in which they enacted their highest and lowest strengths excellently and typically and rated these situations on the degree of the six core virtues, strength expression, fulfillment, and intellectual and moral quality. Behavior examples of highest strengths excellently enacted were rated higher and with higher differentiation in the dependent variables than typical enactments or lowest strengths, thus confirming the paradigm. In Study 2, we applied the paradigm: A second sample of N = 113 German-speaking participants rated a selected subset of strengths–behaviors of layperson’s excellent enactment of highest strengths collected in Study 1 in regard to their degree of the six core virtues. Results confirmed previous convergent and discrepant findings with the theoretical VIA classification. We can conclude that the excellent enactment of highest strengths does indeed reveal virtues. Future studies should use the paradigm and examine culturally diverse samples with different methods for further examining the VIA classification.