Good Character Is What We Look for in a Friend: Character Strengths Are Positively Related to Peer Acceptance and Friendship Quality in Early Adolescents

Wagner, Lisa

doi:10.1177/0272431618791286

Cited by 78 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Identify and Use Strengths–coincides with extensive research supporting the connection between using one’s character strengths and various aspects of wellbeing [ 48 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 ], especially within the school setting [ 48 , 107 , 108 , 109 ]. In the early 2000s, Peterson, Seligman, and colleagues identified 24 human character strengths that constitute the best of humans’ personalities [ 110 ].…”

Section: Positive Sustainability Education: An Integrative Approacmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…In the positive education context, empirical evidence shows that character strengths can be enhanced through explicit teaching [ 48 ]. Teaching to identify and use character strengths in schools promotes students’ personal wellbeing [ 48 , 106 , 107 , 108 ] and, to some extent, their academic achievements [ 48 , 107 , 109 ]. It is also possible to develop specific character strengths such as curiosity, creativity, love of learning, and hope [ 48 ] and self-control skills [ 100 , 114 , 115 ].…”

Section: Positive Sustainability Education: An Integrative Approacmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Promoting Sustainable Wellbeing: Integrating Positive Psychology and Environmental Sustainability in Education

Ronen

Kerret

2020

IJERPH

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This article proposes an integrative policy approach to defining and promoting wellbeing through the joint lenses of positive psychology and environmental sustainability. The study suggests that while both positive education and environmental education address various aspects of wellbeing, a common definition is still absent. The study proposes a framework for advancing a mutual concept of wellbeing: “sustainable wellbeing”, integrating aspects of individual wellbeing and the wellbeing of the environment. Sustainable wellbeing is achieved when improving individual wellbeing is correlated with improving the wellbeing of other members of society and the natural environment. It suggests a framework for integrating the benefits of positive education and environmental education into a coherent approach for exploring, discussing, and experiencing sustainable wellbeing. The paper mainly develops, explores, and demonstrates ten rules for implementing sustainable wellbeing literacy in schools, based on cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology insights. It contributes to the development and understanding of wellbeing, highlights the benefits of parallel developments of two distinct educational fields, and offers practical guidelines for implementing educational programs. Furthermore, the paper contributes to developing 21st century educational systems and further develops the emerging field of positive sustainability.

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Section: Positive Sustainability Education: An Integrative Approacmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Positive Sustainability Education: An Integrative Approacmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Sustainable Wellbeing: Integrating Positive Psychology and Environmental Sustainability in Education

Ronen

Kerret

2020

IJERPH

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“…These three character strengths can be seen to be conducive to initiating and maintaining relationships. Whereas love might be especially relevant in romantic relationships and has been found to be related to the partners' life satisfaction in adolescents (Weber & Ruch, 2012), kindness and teamwork might be crucial for nonromantic relationships, such as in friendships (Wagner, 2018) or in work teams, and have CHARACTER STRENGTHS AND PERMA been reported to predict positive interpersonal behaviors at work or loyalty to the organization (e.g., Ruch, Gander, Platt, & Hofmann, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Character Strengths and PERMA: Investigating the Relationships of Character Strengths with a Multidimensional Framework of Well-Being

Wagner

Gander

Proyer

et al. 2019

Applied Research Quality Life

Self Cite

132

108

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Character strengths are positively valued traits that are expected to contribute to the good life (Peterson and Seligman 2004). Numerous studies have confirmed their robust relationships with subjective or hedonic well-being. Seligman (2011) provided a new framework of well-being suggesting five dimensions that encompass both hedonic and eudemonic aspects of well-being: positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment (forming the acronym PERMA). However, the role of character strengths has not been studied so far in this framework. Also, most studies on the relationships between character strengths and well-being only have only relied on self-reports. This set of two studies examines the relationships of character strengths and the orientations to well-being in two cross-sectional studies (Study 1: N = 5521), while also taking informant-reports into account and utilizing different questionnaires to control for a possible method bias (Study 2: N = 172). Participants completed validated assessments of character strengths and the PERMA dimensions (self-reports in Study 1, self-and informant-reports in Study 2). Results showed that in self-reports, all strengths were positively related to all PERMA dimensions, but there were differences in the size of the relationships. Accomplishment, for example, showed the strongest associations with strengths such as perspective, persistence, and zest, whereas for positive relationships, strengths such as teamwork, love, and kindness were the best predictors. These findings were largely confirmed by informant-reports in Study 2. The findings provide further support for the notion that character contributes to well-being and they could guide the development of strengths-based interventions tailored to individual needs.

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“…However, the character strengths of love and kindness were unrelated to both teacher- and self-rated achievement in group work. Both strengths have been found to be of particular relevance for positive peer relationships in the classroom ( Wagner, 2019 ; Wagner and Ruch, 2020 ), but it seems that this advantage does not necessarily extend into improved performance in situations that require cooperation with peers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Character Strengths Are Related to Students’ Achievement, Flow Experiences, and Enjoyment in Teacher-Centered Learning, Individual, and Group Work Beyond Cognitive Ability

et al. 2020

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While character strengths have been found to predict educational outcomes beyond broad personality traits and cognitive ability, little is known about their differential contribution to success and positive learning experiences in different school settings. In this study, we use trait activation theory to investigate the relationships of students’ character strengths with achievement, flow experiences, and enjoyment in different learning situations (i.e., teacher-centered learning, individual tasks, and group work). In studying these relationships, we controlled for psychometric intelligence. Secondary school students ( N = 255; 46.3% male; mean age = 14.5 years) completed a self-report measure of character strengths, the VIA-Youth ( Park and Peterson, 2006b ). Cognitive ability was assessed using a standardized intelligence test (PSB-R; Horn et al., 2003 ) at baseline. Three months later, students completed the Flow Short Scale ( Rheinberg et al., 2003 ) adapted to the three learning situations and indicated their typical enjoyment of these situations. Both the students and their teachers ( N = 18; 50% male; mean age = 44.8 years) provided ratings on school achievement in each of the three learning situations. Results indicate that, as expected, (a) certain character strengths (love of learning and perseverance) show consistent relationships with achievement and positive learning experiences (flow and enjoyment) above and beyond cognitive ability across all learning situations, whereas (b) other character strengths show differential trait-outcome relationships (e.g., the character strength of teamwork was predictive of achievement and positive learning experiences in group work). Taken together, these results suggest that different character strengths play a role in different school situations and that their contribution to explaining variance in educational outcomes is incremental to the contribution of cognitive ability.

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Good Character Is What We Look for in a Friend: Character Strengths Are Positively Related to Peer Acceptance and Friendship Quality in Early Adolescents

Cited by 78 publications

References 59 publications

Promoting Sustainable Wellbeing: Integrating Positive Psychology and Environmental Sustainability in Education

Promoting Sustainable Wellbeing: Integrating Positive Psychology and Environmental Sustainability in Education

Character Strengths and PERMA: Investigating the Relationships of Character Strengths with a Multidimensional Framework of Well-Being

Character Strengths Are Related to Students’ Achievement, Flow Experiences, and Enjoyment in Teacher-Centered Learning, Individual, and Group Work Beyond Cognitive Ability

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