CHARACTER STRENGTHS

1. WISDOM
The virtue of wisdom is connected with gaining knowledge and using that knowledge effectively to
solve problems.

1. Creativity

Creativity is thinking of new ways to do things. It involves producing ideas or behaviors that are
original. However, originality is not enough: whatever is created, whether an idea or a product, must
also be useful or adaptable.

2. Curiosity

To be curious is to explore and discover, to take an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake.
Curiosity is often described as novelty-seeking and being open to experience, and it’s associated with
the natural desire to build knowledge.

3. Judgment

Involves making rational and logical choices, and analytically evaluating ideas, opinions, and facts. It
is connected with critical thinking: weighing the evidence fairly, thinking things through, and
examining the evidence from all sides rather than jumping to conclusions. Judgment also involves
being open-minded and able to change one’s mind in light of new evidence, remaining open to other
arguments and perspectives.

4. Learning-love

Love of learning means a passion for learning, a desire to learn just for learning’s sake. In fact,
curiosity and love of learning are among the most closely related strengths in the VIA Classification.
They can still be distinguished, though. While curiosity is the motivating force that leads you to seek
out new information, love of learning refers to the desire to hold on to and deepen that information.

5. Perspective

Perspective means the ability to see the bigger picture in life. Perspective is about being able to see
the forest as well as the trees, to avoid getting wrapped up in the small details when there are bigger
issues to consider. While listening to others, perspective helps you to simultaneously think about life
lessons, proper conduct, and what’s best for the situation being discussed.
2. COURAGE
The virtue of courage refers to your will—your digging deep to find motivation to accomplish your
goals despite challenges arising within you (negative thoughts) and around you (a person who
disagrees with you).

1. Bravery

To be brave is to face your challenges, threats, or difficulties. It involves valuing a goal or conviction
and acting upon it, whether popular or not. A central element involves facing—rather than
avoiding—fears.

2. Perseverance

Perseverance is sticking with things. It means being hardworking and finishing what is started,
despite barriers and obstacles that arise. The pleasure received from completing tasks and projects
is very important to those who are high in perseverance. Sometimes he or she must dig deep and
muster the will to overcome thoughts of giving up.

3. Honesty

When you are honest, you speak the truth. More broadly, you present yourself in a genuine and
sincere way, without pretense, and taking responsibility for your feelings and actions. You are a
person of integrity—you are who you say you are—and you act consistently across the domains of
your life rather than being one way in the community and a completely different way in your family.

4. Zest

Zest means approaching a situation, or life in general, with excitement and energy, not approaching
tasks or activities halfway or halfheartedly. People who are high in zest are excited to get up in the
morning, and they live their lives like an adventure. Zest refers to feeling a sense of aliveness and
enthusiasm for different activities.

3. HUMANITY
Humanity is one of two virtues in the Character Strengths classification that have a lot to do with
your approach to other people, the other one being justice. Humanity generally has to do with how
you connect with people in one-on-one situations.

The strengths associated with humanity tend to emerge out of our attraction to and feelings for
other people. They are more emotional in their origins, though they often lead to deep thought
about the other person’s feelings, needs, and desires.

That said, humanity is not limited to one-on-one situations, but situations with more than one other
person often also call for using the justice strengths.
 1. Love

Love as a character strength, rather than as an emotion, refers to the degree to which you value
close relationships with people, and contribute to that closeness in a warm and genuine way.

2. Kindness

Kindness is being nice to others. As you examine kindness further, a number of important
dimensions begin to unfold. Kindness is being generous with others, giving your time, money, and
talent to support those who are in need. Kindness is being compassionate, which means to really be
there for someone, listening intently to their suffering or just sitting with them and silently
supporting them.

Despite the distinction between them, kindness and love frequently go together, and it’s not
uncommon for a person high in one to be high in the other.

3. Social-IQ

When a person knows what makes other people tick, he or she is displaying social intelligence.
They’re aware of the motives and feelings of themselves and others, and how to fit into different
social situations. Social intelligence involves not only being aware of feelings, but expressing
emotions appropriately (or deliberately not expressing them if that’s appropriate). This awareness
and social adeptness build relationships with others. Social intelligence helps people “read” others
and situations well, and quickly “size up” social nuances and the things that have been left unsaid.
Empathy, the capacity to feel another person’s feelings, is an important component of good social
intelligence.

4. JUSTICE
Justice is the second virtue that is specifically about how you interact with other people. Humanity
had to do with our personal relationships with others.

Interpersonal relationships are not always one-on-one. We also exist in groups, and so the strengths
of justice have to do with how we navigate the competing goals and intentions of people in groups.
Where humanity is about me and you, justice is about me and “you all.”

The justice strengths are especially important in situations that can create a healthier group or
healthier community that you are involved in.

1. Teamwork

Teamwork means that in team situations you are committed to contributing to the team’s success.
The team could be a work group or a sports team, but it could also refer to your family, marriage, or
even a group of friends working on a project together. Teamwork extends to being a good citizen of
your community or country, and more broadly to a sense of social responsibility for particular groups
of people or even all of humanity.
the person high in teamwork applies a certain way of acting in whatever context they consider
themselves committed to the good of the group as a whole. Most commonly, however, this strength
refers to being a dedicated, reliable, and contributing member to your small group or team.

2. Fairness

Fairness is treating people justly, not letting your personal feelings bias your decisions about others.
You want to give everyone a fair chance, and believe there should be equal opportunity for all,
though you also realize that what is fair for one person might not be fair for another.

Fairness encompasses the moral rules that a person uses to decide that something is fair as well as
the fairness of their decisions.

3. Leadership

As a character strength, leadership refers to the tendency to organize and encourage a group to get
things done, while maintaining good relations within the group. Like teamwork, leadership involves
being committed to the goals of the group, but how that commitment manifests itself is very
different.

Leadership involves setting goals and accomplishing them, enlisting effective help, building
coalitions, and smoothing ruffled feathers. Effective leaders are able to provide a positive vision or
message that inspires dedicated followers who feel empowered and inspired.

The best leaders are self-aware. They recognize their top character strengths and how to use them
to bring out the best in others.

5. TEMPERANCE
The virtue of temperance is, in some ways, the flip side of courage. Where courage involves your
taking action when necessary to do good, temperance has to do with keeping yourself from acting in
ways that are bad or socially undesirable.

1. Forgiveness

Forgiveness means to extend understanding toward those who have wronged or hurt us. It means to
let go. In many cases this is the letting go of some or all of the frustration, disappointment,
resentment, or other painful feelings associated with an offense. Forgiveness, and the related quality
of mercy, involve accepting the shortcomings, flaws, and imperfections of others and giving them a
second (or third) chance. It is letting bygones be bygones, rather than being vengeful. It is a process
of humanizing those who have led us to feel dehumanized.
 2. Self-regulation

Self-regulation is a complex character strength. It has to do with controlling your appetites and
emotions and regulating what you do. Those high in self-regulation have a good level of confidence
in their belief that they can be effective in what they pursue and are likely to achieve their goals.
They are admired for their ability to control their reactions to disappointment and insecurities. Self-
regulation helps keep a sense of balance, order, and progress in life.

When you are at your best with self-regulation, you exercise discipline and self-control with your
health habits, emotions, and impulses.

3. Humility

Humility means accurately evaluating your accomplishments. It’s easy to describe what humility is
not—it is not bragging, not doing things in excess, not seeking the spotlight, not drawing attention to
yourself, not viewing yourself as more special or important than others. On the other hand, it is not
bowing to every wish or demand of another person and it is not being highly self-critical. Truly
humble people think well of themselves and have a good sense of who they are, but they also are
aware of their mistakes, gaps in their knowledge, and imperfections. Most importantly, they are
content without being a center of attention or getting praised for their accomplishments.

4. Prudence

Prudence means being careful about your choices, stopping and thinking before acting. It is a
strength of restraint. When you are prudent, you are not taking unnecessary risks, and not saying or
doing things that you might later regret. If you are high in prudence, you are able to consider the
long-term consequences of your actions. Prudence is a form of practical reasoning, the ability to
examine the potential consequences of your actions objectively, and to control yourself based on
that examination.

6. TRANSCENDENCE
This virtue encompasses strengths that Help You Connect to the Larger Universe and Provide
Meaning.

The transcendent strengths have to do with our knowing there are things that we can never know or
understand fully. They have to do with recognizing the limitations of our knowledge and using that
recognition in the service of the good. The strengths that are associated with transcendence help us
separate ourselves from our everyday lives and see into a larger way of thinking.

1. Appreciation

At the core of this character strength is the ability to see something delightful and moving in
situations, environments, or other people, a special something that others may ignore. Appreciation
of beauty and excellence involves noticing and appreciating beauty, uniqueness, virtue, skill, and the
exceptional in everyday life. At its best, this strength emerges across domains, from nature and art,
to mathematics and science, to human interactions.

1. Beauty

2. Excellence

2. Gratitude

Gratitude involves feeling and expressing a deep sense of thankfulness in life, and more specifically,
taking the time to genuinely express thankfulness to others. This thankfulness can be for specific
gifts or thoughtful acts. It could also more generally reflect recognition of what that person
contributes to your life.

3. Hope

Hope has to do with positive expectations about the future. It involves optimistic thinking and
focusing on good things to come. Hope is more than a feel-good emotion. It is an action-oriented
strength involving agency, the motivation and confidence that goals can be reached, and also that
many effective pathways can be devised in order to get to that desired future.

4. Humor

Humor means to recognize what is amusing in situations, and to offer the lighter side to others.
Humor is an important lubricant to social interactions and can contribute to team building or moving
toward group goals. Humor allows coping with distressing situations.

5. Spirituality

The spirituality strength has many dimensions. Some of these include meaning, purpose, life calling,
beliefs about the universe, the expression of virtue/goodness, and practices that connect with the
transcendent.

Spirituality involves the belief that there is a dimension to life that is beyond human understanding.