Character Strengths Lead to Satisfactory Educational Outcomes Through Strength Use: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

Despite the flourishing of positive education, understanding of whether different character strengths have different predictive effects on academic achievement/well-being and the mechanisms of actions between character strengths are limited. Specifically, this study adopted strength use as a mediator to understand how character strength (assessed by caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control) is associated with students’ end-of-year academic achievements and eudaimonic well-being. Survey data from 349 adolescents from three different schools showed that three factors of character strengths have positive correlations with academic achievements and eudaimonic well-being. Regression models indicated that inquisitiveness and self-control predicted academic achievements, while caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control predicted eudaimonic well-being, with the foremost as the strongest predictor. Mediation analyses indicated that (1) strengths use fully mediated the relationship between inquisitiveness, self-control, and academic achievements/eudaimonic well-being, while (2) caring had a direct effect on eudaimonic well-being. These findings provided possible explanations on how character strengths could affect students’ academic achievements or eudaimonic well-being and theoretical and empirical evidence for practices that aim to enhance students’ academic achievements and positive developments via interventions based on character strengths.

Strength-Based Flourishing Intervention to Promote Resilience in Individuals With Physical Disabilities in Disadvantaged Communities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Changes in resilience factors (e.g., self-efficacy, positive thinking, altruism, and goal setting) could mediate enhanced personal resilience at the 3-month follow-up sessions (Yu et al, 2015). The awareness and application of character strengths may play such a mediating role (Bu & Duan, 2019; Duan et al, 2019; Tang et al, 2019). Fourth, WBT and character strength–based interventions exhibited the logic of CBT model and were successfully combined with CBT in previous studies.…”

An Extended Evaluation of Academic Encouragement Scale for Adolescents

“…Fourth, the concurrent and predictive validity of the AES should be further enhanced using larger samples and various established measures. Finally, positive education emphasizes that academic achievement and well-being are equally important components of educational outcomes (Tang, Li, Duan, Mu, & Cheng, 2019). Future studies should examine the predictive effect of the AES on adolescents’ well-being as well as its underlying mechanisms.…”

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

“…Moreover, fairness has shown a positive association with selfreported GPA [49]. Among high school students, the caring factor has been positively associated with final exam grades [50]. Regarding self-control, this factor and some of its strengths have been related to academic performance.…”

“…Studies using self-control scales have demonstrated a positive association between this construct and academic achievement [51][52][53]. In addition, the self-control factor has also shown a positive association with final exam grades in high school students [50]. Among university students, self-regulation, perseverance and prudence [49], as well as honesty and humility, [48] have demonstrated positive associations with academic scores.…”

“…In addition, love of learning has been positively correlated to academic performance in undergraduates [48,49] and adolescents [54,55]. Finally, the inquisitiveness factor has shown a positive association with final exam grades in high school students [50].…”