Positive Psychology: Character Strengths

Flashcards on Positive Psychology, Character Strengths

Eudaimonic Well-Being

Focuses on positive individual traits and virtues.

Aristotle's view on Happiness

Activity in accordance with virtue.

Hedonic Well-Being (Subjective Well-Being)

How we feel! Focuses on positive and negative emotions, life satisfaction, and domain satisfaction.

Eudaimonic Well-Being

What we think! Focuses on engagement (flow), meaning, and peace of mind.

Well-Being (or ‘Happiness’)

Minimalist Well-Being / Peace of Mind. What we do!

PERSONALITY

A distinctive and relatively stable pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterizes a person throughout life.

TRAIT (or disposition)

A characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

CHARACTER TRAITS

Virtuous personality traits, moral qualities of the person.

The Big Five of Personality

OCEAN: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Extraversion, Agreeableness

Associated with Positive Affect (PA), Life Satisfaction (LS), and Eudaimonic Well-Being (EWB).

Neuroticism

Associated with Negative Affect (NA).

Donald Clifton

The Grandfather of Positive Psychology and the Father of Strengths-Based Psychology.

Talent

Naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.

Strength

The ability to provide consistent, near perfect performance in a specific given activity; Talent X Investment.

Investment

Time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base.

Definition of Talents

'rough diamonds'

Definition of Strengths

'polished diamonds'

Gallup's Talent Themes

Identified 34 themes of talent through interviews with successful people from different professions.

VIA

Values in Action

Core Virtue

Core characteristics valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers across time and cultures.

6 Core Virtues

Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Transcendence

Character Strength

Psychological processes and mechanisms by which virtue may be achieved.

Situational Theme

Specific habits that lead people to manifest strengths in particular situations.

Creativity

Originality; adaptive; ingenuity

Bravery

Valor; not shrinking from fear; speaking up for what's right

Love

Both loving and being loved; valuing close relations with others

Teamwork

Citizenship; social responsibility; loyalty

Forgiveness

Mercy; accepting others' shortcomings; giving people a second chance

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence

Awe; wonder; elevation

Curiosity

Interest; novelty-seeking; exploration; openness to experience

Perseverance

Persistence; industry; finishing what one starts

Kindness

Generosity; nurturance; care; compassion; altruism; 'niceness'

Fairness

Just; not letting feelings bias decisions about others

Humility

Modesty; letting one's accomplishments speak for themselves

Gratitude

Thankful for the good; expressing thanks; feeling blessed

Judgment

Critical thinking; thinking things through; open-minded

Honesty

Authenticity; integrity

Social Intelligence

Emotional intelligence; aware of the motives/feelings of self/ others; knowing what makes other people tick

Leadership

Organizing group activities; encouraging a group to get things done

Prudence

Careful; cautious; not taking undue risks

Love of Learning

Mastering new skills & topics; systematically adding to knowledge

Zest

Vitality; enthusiasm; vigor; energy; feeling alive and activated

Perspective

Wisdom; providing wise counsel; taking the big picture view

Hope

Optimism; future-mindedness; future orientation

Self-Regulation

Self-control; disciplined; managing impulses & emotions

Humor

Playfulness; bringing smiles to others; lighthearted

Spirituality

Religiousness; faith; purpose; meaning

Increased Mental Well-being

Using character strengths in a new way increases well-being (pleasant life, engaged life and meaningful life).

Increased Mental Well-being

Greater strengths use predicts greater self-esteem, vitality, positive affect, and lower perceived stress

Decreased Mental Ill-being

Using character strengths in a new way decreases symptoms of depression

The Strengths of the Strengths; Better Performance

Character strengths are associated with academic achievement, especially perseverance, gratitude, and hope

The Golden Mean of Strengths

Optimal use of strengths in the right amount for the right situations

Identifying, Putting Strengths into Action Plan, Strengths Date, Family Tree of Strengths

How to Cultivate Character Strengths (Magyar-Moe, 2009)