Knowing our Character Strengths

The character strengths that make you who you are are the parts of your personality that influence how you think, feel, and behave. Every person has a combination of 24 character strengths that, if developed correctly, can significantly impact their lives.

A variety of studies have found evidence that using your character strengths can lead to better mental health, help improve your happiness, reduce stress, help improve your relationships, and make you more productive and satisfied at work.

The VIA Character Personality Assessment is a scientific instrument developed by Peterson and Seligman (2004), and is widely used in academic and corporate settings. The VIA is based on the identification of six universal virtues and twenty-four character strengths, and is a guide to help identify each strength and virtue. Among the virtues identified are wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence: twenty-four character strengths are grouped within these six virtues.

A good understanding of our character strengths allows us to plan and prioritise our development and their use within our lives, and enables us to move forward in a proactive manner.

If you’re looking to improve your work performance or find more meaning in your daily life, there are a variety of tools and techniques available to you. We invite you to try the VIA Survey as a start, and let us know how it goes.