Strengths

In 2000, Dr. Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson set out to accelerate the science of character.  Dr. Seligman was president of the American Psychological Association and was considering an alternative to traditional deficit-based psychology, which focuses on all of the things that can go wrong with people.  An international character strengths research team of 55 scientists led by Peterson and Seligman identified the 24 character strengths as the core components of what is best in people that are universal and cut across cultures and history. This work was supported by what became the VIA Institute on Character, which today is an international thought-leader in the application of strengths. 

Character strengths were born out of the positive psychology movement. Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive.  The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work and play.

The VIA character strengths survey is free and available online at www.viacharacter.org. 

The VIA Survey, developed by renowned psychologist, Christopher Peterson, Ph.D and recently revised by Dr. Robert McGrath, VIA’s Senior Scientist, is a 96- question, scientifically validated, questionnaire that provides a rank order of an adult’s 24 character strengths. The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and descriptive results and in-depth reports are available upon completion. You also have the option of connecting with Dr. Marquita Barron, Director of Training and Development, for a consult / additional guidance on your strengths - barronm1@nku.edu.

Nearly 4 million people worldwide have taken the survey, and it’s offered in 34 languages.

We have a problem with disengagement in our society – in organizations, in our relationships and at home. In fact, research has found that less than 25% of the US population is flourishing (Keyes, 2003).  Furthermore, studies have found that two-thirds of people are unaware of their strengths (though most of us can quickly point out the things we need to work on).  People who are aware of their strengths and use them are 18 times more likely to be flourishing than those who do not use their strengths (Hone et al., 2015). 

Furthermore, employees who are highly aware of their strengths and have the opportunity to use them in their work are significantly more likely to be engaged at work.  This research holds true for young people as well– awareness and use of character strengths in children increases motivation, engagement learning and performance and can positively impact all dimensions of social and emotional learning.