The Character Strengths Response: An Urgent Call to Action

Abstract

A model on the role of character strengths in individual, collective, and species success is proffered. It is derived from viewing character strengths from a species perspective as opposed to one of individual differences/personality psychology. The history of the VIA initiative on character science is overviewed, and results to date are summarized in terms of promoting well-being, helping to accomplish aspirational intentions, and allowing the greater good of the collective to grow. "The character strengths response" is described as the response capacities that character strengths may enable for helping us fulfill the human promise of surviving, thriving, and successfully creating a next-generation so that individuals and the collective flourish while also living in harmonious balance with other species. An argument is presented that there is an urgent need for advancing population-wide psychological maturity to be better prepared to navigate the difficult decisions that accompany growing technological powers, and that the character strengths response warrants special attention of research funding to accomplish this imperative.

The Future of Evidence-Based Temperance Interventions

“…It is also a fundamental component of leading a happy, healthy, and flourishing life (Worthington, 2020a). This virtue reflects an inherent capacity to moderate or control one's thoughts, feelings, habits, and desires (Mayerson, 2020) that protects against excess or deficiency (Fehr and Gelfand, 2012). Temperance may encompass many related behaviors, such as prudence, conscientiousness, caution, and self-restraint, that could tame impulses of anger, resentment, selfishness, over-indulgence, and rigidity (Shahab and Adil, 2020).…”

A new complex mental health test in a positive psychological framework

“…In the so-called classical models of mental health (Jahoda, 1958;Vaillant, 2003;Vaillant G. E., 2012) the focus is on personality traits that guarantee efficient self-regulation and flexible accommodation, and on psychological resources that foster fulfillment. For instance, the use of the character strengths that leads to human flourishing (Mayerson, 2020) are only predictors of the optimal mental health. The presence of personality traits resources is also regarded as a primary factor in positive mental health in salutogenic theory (Antonovsky, 1991), according to which mental health is maintained by efficient stress management, resilient self-regulation, and flexible accommodation to the continuously changing world (Block and Kremen, 1996;Block and Block, 2014).…”

The Relationships between Character Strengths and Subjective Wellbeing: Evidence from Greece under Lockdown during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This virtue increases positive emotions and reduces negative emotions, through the power of faith, and in this way, promotes wellbeing [50,51]. Additionally, it enhances engagement because it motivates people for the future and makes them more capable of coping with difficulties, such as quarantine and the consequent security measures, and accomplish their goals [46,47]. Nevertheless, due to quarantine and the isolation, people were restricted and not able to do the activities that they did before [46], such as going to the church, so this may be the reason why the transcendent virtue negatively predicted meaning in life.…”

“…Zest gives people the strength to work even under harsh conditions [26], such as quarantine, where people had to adapt to a new reality [45]. Hope positively predicted engagement, as it is a strength that gives people motivation for the future [46] because hope makes people more able to cope with the loss of their loved ones and more generally, to cope with disappointment and difficulties [47]. Persistence enhances engagement through the effort it applies to overcoming cognitive challenges [48] and to finishing every activity that one starts [20], which is more difficult in quarantine due to the various restrictions [45].…”