VIA Character Strengths

What are the VIA Character Strengths?

In recent years, psychology has been moving beyond its focus on mental illness and shifting towards identifying and researching what makes humans thrive and flourish. The VIA (Values in Action) Classification of Character Strengths is comprised of 24 character strengths. The 24 character strengths fall under 6 broad virtue categories. The six virtue categories are –

• wisdom,
• courage,
• humanity,
• justice,
• temperance, and
• transcendence.

Each person has each of the 24 character strengths, however they have them in varying degrees. The VIA character strengths are morally and universally valued across cultures and knowing your constellation of character strengths help you live a happy and authentic life.

How were the VIA Character Strengths created?

The VIA Character Strengths were created under the direction of Dr. Martin Seligman, the “father of Positive Psychology” and author of Authentic Happiness and Flourish, and Dr. Christopher Peterson, distinguished scientist at the University of Michigan and author of A Primer in Positive Psychology. The VIA Character Strengths Self-Assessment Survey is regarded as a central tool of positive psychology and has been used in hundreds of research studies.

What are the VIA Classification of Character Strengths?

The VIA Classification of Character Strengths are –

Over to You…

Are you ready to Discover Your VIA Character Strengths? If so, then you can take the VIA Character Strengths Survey for free and discover them today!

The VIA Character Strengths Survey – gives you some clues of who you are at your core. Your character strengths are the personality characteristics that help you feel engaged, authentic and unique in your life.

The VIA Character Strengths Survey is a simple survey that takes a few minutes to complete. Once completed, the survey results provide you with information that can help you understand your constellation of the 24 character strengths. As you can see by the above picture, the strengths fall under six broad virtue categories –

• wisdom,
• courage,
• humanity,
• justice,
• temperance, and
• transcendence.

“Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.” ~ Marilyn Vos Savant

Any questions or comments, please write them below. If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our Toolkit?

Photo credits – VIA Institute on Character.