Department of Applied Psychology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology,
Hisar, Haryana, India
Submission date: 2025-01-31
Final revision date: 2025-04-21
Acceptance date: 2025-05-05
Publication date: 2025-05-15
Corresponding author
Sher Singh
Sher Singh, Department of Applied Psychology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar-Delhi Bypass Rd, Hisar-125001, Haryana, India
Background: This major study examines the correlation of virtues of character strengths with well-being dimensions, identifying character strengths as predictors of well-being in boys and girls.
Material and methods: Data was collected from 200 students (100 boys, 100 girls) from 9th to 12th grades using purposive sampling. The Pearson correlation method and stepwise regression analysis were employed to examine the score.
Results: Correlational analysis showed that character strength virtues had a positive correlation with almost all dimensions of well-being, and stepwise regression analysis revealed that character strengths emerged as distinct predictors of well-being for boys and girls. Boys’ well-being was predicted by five character strengths, while girls’ well-being was predicted by two character strengths. Character strengths accounted for approximately 35% of the variance in well-being for both boys and girls.
Conclusions: The study shows the importance of character strengths for adolescents’ well-being. Character strengths play an important role in embracing the positive which results in better well-being.
REFERENCES(48)
1.
Niemiec RM. Mental health and character strengths: the dual role of boosting well-being and reducing suffering. Mental Health and Social Inclusion. 2023; 27(4): 294-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/mhsi-0....
Shubert J, Wray-Lake L, Syvertsen AK, Metzger A. The role of family civic context in character development across childhood and adolescence. Applied Developmental Science. 2022; 26(1): 15-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/108886....
Wilson D, Ng V, Alonso N, Jeffrey A, Tay L. Conceptualizing “positive attributes” across psychological perspectives. Journal of Personality. 2023; 92(3): 683-696. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.1....
Peterson C, Park N, Seligman MEP. Greater strengths of character and recovery from illness. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 2005; 1(1): 17-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/174397....
Park N, Peterson C, Seligman MEP. Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 2004; 23(5): 603-619. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2....
Seema S, Manju M. Emotional intelligence and personality as correlates of the psychological well-being of adolescents: a cross-sectional study in north India. Health Prob Civil. 2023; 17(1): 49-61. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpc.20....
Fino E, Sun S. “Let us create!”: The mediating role of creative self-efficacy between personality and mental well-being in university students. Personality and Individual Differences. 2022; 188: 111444.
Moreira PA, Inman RA, Cloninger CR. Virtues in action are related to the integration of both temperament and character: comparing the VIA classification of virtues and Cloninger’s biopsychosocial model of personality. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 2022; 17(6): 858-875. https://doi.org/10.1080/174397....
Peterson C, Seligman MEP. Character strengths and virtues: a handbook and classification. Choice Reviews Online. 2004; 42(01): 42-0624. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice....
Aydoğdu F, Gürsoy F, Aral N. Social emotional well-being, psychological resilience and behavioural problems in preschool children: the mediating role of emotion regulation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education. 2024; 18(1). https://doi.org/10.17206/apjre....
Wilhite K, Booker B, Huang BH, Antczak D, Corbett L, Parker P, et al. Combinations of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep duration and their associations with physical, psychological, and educational outcomes in children and adolescents: a systematic review. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2023; 192(4): 665-79. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kw....
Brown A, Leite AC. The effects of social and organizational connectedness on employee well‐being and remote working experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2022; 53(2): 134-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.1....
Ryan RM, Deci EL. On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology. 2001; 52(1): 141-66. https://doi.org/10.1146/annure....
Kern ML. PERMAH: a useful model for focusing on well-being in schools. In: Allen KA, Furlong MJ, Vella-Brodrick D, Suldo S, editors. Handbook of positive psychology in schools. New York: Routledge; 2022. p. 12-24. https://doi.org/10.4324/978100....
Green ZA. Character strengths intervention for nurturing well‐being among Pakistan's university students: a mixed‐method study. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being. 2022; 14(1): 252-277. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.1....
Weziak-Bialowolska D, Bialowolski P, Niemiec RM. Character strengths and health-related quality of life in a large international sample: a cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Research in Personality. 2022; 103: 104338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.....
Toner E, Haslam N, Robinson J, Williams P. Character strengths and wellbeing in adolescence: structure and correlates of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Children. Personality and Individual Differences. 2012; 52(5): 637-642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
Lee MT, McNeely E, Weziak-Bialowolska D, Ryan KA, Mooney KD, Cowden RG, et al. Demographic predictors of complete Well-Being. BMC Public Health. 2022; 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889....
Park N, Peterson C, Seligman ME. Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 2004; 23(5): 603-19. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2....
Hooda D, Sharma NR, Yadava A. Social intelligence as a predictor of positive psychological health. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology. 2009; 35(1): 143-50.
Harzer C, Mubashar T, Dubreuil P. Character strengths and strength-related person-job fit as predictors of work-related wellbeing, job performance, and workplace deviance. Wirtschaftspsychologie. 2017; 19(3): 23-38.
Tehranchi A, Doost HTN, Amiri S, Power MJ. the role of character strengths in depression: a structural equation model. Frontiers in Psychology. 2018; 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
Martínez-Martí ML, Theirs CI, Pascual D, Corradi G. Character strengths predict an increase in mental health and subjective well-being over a one-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020; 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
Xie J, Liu M, Zhong Z, Zhang Q, Zhou J, Wang L, et al. Relationships among character strengths, self-efficacy, social support, depression, and psychological well-being of hospital nurses. Asian Nursing Research. 2020; 14(3): 150-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.....
Gobind DM. Family environment and personality as predictors of psychological well-being. An International BI-Lingual Peer Reviewed Refereed Research Journal. 2021; 10(2): 24-28.
Upenieks L. Searching for meaning: religious transitions as correlates of life meaning and purpose in emerging adulthood. Mental Health Religion & Culture. 2022; 25(4): 414-434. https://doi.org/10.1080/136746....
Taheri A, Naami AZ, Fakhraei AA, Askar A. Relationship between character strength and social, psychological, and spiritual well-being with mediating use of character strength. The Journal of Psychological Science. 2022; 21(110): 419-435. https://doi.org/10.52547/jps.2....
Pandey S, Singh A. Evaluating how character strengths and resilience contribute to well-being among adolescents [Internet]. 2024 [access 2025 Jan 30]. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/p....
Bowles SV, Neumaier ER, Hughes ER, Guberman L, Cozzi FM, Bartone PT, et al. A preliminary analysis of psychological strengths: service members’ well-being post-deployment. Military Medicine. 2025; usaf011. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed....
Smith EP, Yzaguirre MM, Dwanyen L, Wieling E. Culturally relevant parenting approaches among African American and Latinx children and families: toward resilient, strengths-based, trauma-informed practices. Adversity and Resilience Science. 2022; 3(3): 209-924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844....
Carlo G, Murry VM, Davis AN, Gonzalez CM, Debreaux ML. Culture-related adaptive mechanisms to race-related trauma among African American and US Latinx youth. Adversity and Resilience Science. 2022; 3(3): 247-59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844....
Dahlsgaard K, Peterson C, Seligman MEP. Shared virtue: the convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history. Review of General Psychology. 2005; 9(3): 203-213. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2....
Niemiec RM, Wedding D. Positive psychology at the movies: using films to build character strengths and well-being. Göttingen: Hogrefe Publishing GmbH; 2013.
Park N, Peterson C. The values in action inventory of character strengths for youth. In: Moore KA, Lippman LH, editors. What do children need to flourish? The Search Institute series on developmentally attentive community and society, vol 3. Boston, MA: Springer; 2005. p. 13-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-....
Butler J, Kern ML. The PERMA-Profiler: a brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. International Journal of Wellbeing. 2016; 6(3). https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v6....
Ardelt M, Kingsbury J. Wisdom, virtues, and well-being: an empirical test of Aristotle’s theory of flourishing. Topoi. 2024; 43(3): 879-893. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245....
Joseph V. Fearfully and wonderfully made: a study on character strengths-virtues and psychological resilience as predictors of eudaimonic well-being among young adults. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology. 2024; 15(4): 378-87.
da Silva R, Rocha AM, Francisco D. Virtues and character strengths, subjective well-being and academic achievement: an exploratory study with Angolan university students. In: Schutte L, Guse T, Wissing MP, editors. Embracing well-being in diverse African contexts: research perspectives. Cross-cultural advancements in positive psychology, vol. 16. Cham: Springer; 2022. p. 275-296. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-....
Lodi E, Perrella L, Zarbo R, Patrizi P. Courage as mediator between positive resources and general/domain-specific well-being indices. European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education. 2022; 12(8): 1067-1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe....
Stahlmann AG, Hopwood CJ, Bleidorn W. Big Five personality traits predict small but robust differences in civic engagement. Journal of Personality. 2023; 92(2): 480-494. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.1....
Kabakçı ÖF, Ergene T. The role of character strengths in positive youth development: prediction of resiliency, subjective well-being, and academic achievement. Türk Psikolojik Danışma Ve Rehberlik Dergisi. 2024; 14(75): 619-638. https://doi.org/10.17066/tpdrd....
Proctor C, Maltby J, Linley PA. Strengths use as a predictor of well-being and health-related quality of life. Journal of Happiness Studies. 2010; 12(1): 153-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902....
Fine YA. Examining the link between signature strength use and well-being based on the perceived value of strengths. [Undergraduate honors thesis]. New York: Yeshiva University; 2024.
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.