Mental health and character strengths: the dual role of boosting well-being and reducing suffering

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine how character strengths have an important dual role in mental health in both promoting well-being and mental wellness and also in reducing symptoms and suffering. While there are many studies that have touched upon variables that character strengths can enhance for mental well-being or reduce for suffering, the author actually knows very little about how character strengths might relate to or impact mental health. Design/methodology/approach A large-scale study of 12,050 individuals was conducted to explore the self-perceived character strengths that are most helpful for mental health, for handling physical adversity, for handling social adversity and for fostering psychological well-being. Findings Some character strengths showed a general effect – showing a strong perceived impact across multiple domains – such as love, perspective, kindness, hope, humor and curiosity. Other character strengths showed a specific effect in that there was a strong perceived impact in one domain, such as perseverance and self-regulation for physical health, spirituality and social intelligence for social health and creativity for mental health. A strength-based approach to understanding and managing emotions was substantially more preferred than cognitive or behavioral approaches. Other findings examined the character strengths most desired to be improved upon for mental health. Research limitations/implications The research strategy was cross-sectional, thereby causality cannot be determined. Because of the large sample size, researchers are encouraged to consider examining the findings in intervention studies. Practical implications This study indicates that character strengths are highly relevant for mental health, all 24 character strengths are possible pathways to impact mental health (some more than others) and individuals can readily connect ways they can use their character strengths to positively improve their well-being and manage their suffering. Social implications Character strengths and their substantial positive potential provide an avenue for public impact on a large scale. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first known study to directly examine multiple intersections among mental health and character strengths in a large sample.

Comparison of the Mental Disorders Among Families of ISIS Captives Residing in Sulaymaniyah With the Native Population in 2023: A Cross-sectional Study

“… 14 People’s mental health is linked to their emotional, psychological, social, and even physical well-being, according to several published studies. 15 - 17 In the current study, all mean scores for assessing the psychological status of families of ISIS captives were greater than those of the native people ( Table 1 vs. Table 2 ). This research highlights the need for monitoring people’s psychological state after experiencing an unexpected and tragic event.…”

Character Strengths Use in Diabetes Self‐management Scale: Development and psychometric testing

“…A Chinese version of Diabetes-Specific Quality of Life Scale was used to assess the quality of life in participants (Hsu et al, 2018), consisting of 15 items using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (Always), with higher scores indicating better quality of life. Character strength is suggested to be positively associated with physical health (Niemiec & Yarova, 2019). Glycaemic control was considered an important physical outcome indicator for diabetes control (ADA, 2022), so baseline haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels collected from medical records for all participants when administrating the original SUDM scale were considered another indicator of concurrent validity of the scale's final version.…”

“…Character strengths are considered positive psychological traits or capabilities that could improve health of individuals and have been proven to associate with mental health in general populations such as youth and healthcare workers (Kachel et al, 2020;Zhang & Chen, 2018). Applying character strengths is intended to help patients build upon inner power and make patients feel they are empowered, thereby increasing selfefficacy (Niemiec & Yarova, 2019), while ultimately improving physical health and quality of life (Ghosh & Deb, 2017) of people with chronic diseases, including diabetes. The association between character strengths and mental health in people with chronic disease has been validated in previous empirical studies (Yan et al, 2020); nevertheless, the associations between character strengths and physical health outcomes including self-management behaviours in people with chronic diseases have rarely been approved.…”

“…Character strengths are referred to as 'human capacities for thinking, feeling, and behaving in healthy and productive ways' (Niemiec & Yarova, 2019), and each individual has varying degrees of character strengths. Peterson and Seligman (2004) have identified 24 character strengths that are further classified into six virtues (Table 1).…”

Are Character Strengths Universal? Evidence From Pakistani Context

“…Character strengths play a dual role in the health and well-being of individuals, particularly mental health. By dual role, we mean that these not only reduce the sufferings of individuals but also boost their well-being (Niemiec, 2023;Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Peterson and Seligman (2004) argued that the list of 24 character strengths is universal; however, the ranking of 24 character strengths may vary across cultures.…”