Page 129 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
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char acter strengths of first-year student teachers and the 5 cs ...
vrline, saj lahko te prispevajo k osebnostnemu in strokovnemu razvoju v
smeri ciljev modela Pozitivni razvoj mladih.
Ključne besede: pozitivna psihologija, vrline, VIA klasifikacija vrlin,
pozitivni razvoj mladih, 5 C-jev, študenti prvega letnika, obdobje prehoda
Introduction
Positive Psychology and the VIA Classification of character
strengths
The last two decades have seen a growing body of research on topics that
promote the importance of positive aspects of life, such as flourishing and
well-being, arising from the relatively new discipline of positive psycholo-
gy (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive psychology focuses on
the study of positive individual traits, positive subjective experiences and
positive institutions that facilitate positive experiences and positive traits
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). One of the largest projects in posi-
tive psychology involved development of the VIA1 Classification of charac-
ter strengths and virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Character strengths
are defined as positive personality traits that are morally valuable (Peterson
& Seligman, 2004). They constitute the “good character” needed for indi-
viduals and societies to thrive (Park et al., 2006). The VIA Classification
contains 24 character strengths that are manifest reflections of six high-
er-order virtues (McGrath, 2015) considered to be universal in time and
place: Wisdom and Knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance
and Transcendence. The VIA Classification is as follows (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004; we list virtues in italics and their corresponding character
strengths; in square brackets, we add some synonyms to assist understand-
ing of particular character strengths): Wisdom and Knowledge (Creativity,
Curiosity, Judgement [critical thinking], Love of learning, Perspective
[wisdom]; Courage (Bravery, Perseverance, Honesty [authenticity, integri-
ty], Zest [enthusiasm, vitality]); Humanity (Love [capacity to love and to
be loved], Kindness [generosity], Social Intelligence); Justice (Teamwork,
Fairness, Leadership); Temperance (Forgiveness, Modesty [humility],
Prudence, Self-regulation); Transcendence (Appreciation of beauty and ex-
cellence, Gratitude, Hope [optimism], Humour [playfulness], Spirituality
[religiousness]).
1 While VIA originally stood for “Values in Action”, it is today used as an acronym as-
sociated with the VIA Institute on Character (McGrath, 2015).
129
vrline, saj lahko te prispevajo k osebnostnemu in strokovnemu razvoju v
smeri ciljev modela Pozitivni razvoj mladih.
Ključne besede: pozitivna psihologija, vrline, VIA klasifikacija vrlin,
pozitivni razvoj mladih, 5 C-jev, študenti prvega letnika, obdobje prehoda
Introduction
Positive Psychology and the VIA Classification of character
strengths
The last two decades have seen a growing body of research on topics that
promote the importance of positive aspects of life, such as flourishing and
well-being, arising from the relatively new discipline of positive psycholo-
gy (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive psychology focuses on
the study of positive individual traits, positive subjective experiences and
positive institutions that facilitate positive experiences and positive traits
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). One of the largest projects in posi-
tive psychology involved development of the VIA1 Classification of charac-
ter strengths and virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Character strengths
are defined as positive personality traits that are morally valuable (Peterson
& Seligman, 2004). They constitute the “good character” needed for indi-
viduals and societies to thrive (Park et al., 2006). The VIA Classification
contains 24 character strengths that are manifest reflections of six high-
er-order virtues (McGrath, 2015) considered to be universal in time and
place: Wisdom and Knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance
and Transcendence. The VIA Classification is as follows (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004; we list virtues in italics and their corresponding character
strengths; in square brackets, we add some synonyms to assist understand-
ing of particular character strengths): Wisdom and Knowledge (Creativity,
Curiosity, Judgement [critical thinking], Love of learning, Perspective
[wisdom]; Courage (Bravery, Perseverance, Honesty [authenticity, integri-
ty], Zest [enthusiasm, vitality]); Humanity (Love [capacity to love and to
be loved], Kindness [generosity], Social Intelligence); Justice (Teamwork,
Fairness, Leadership); Temperance (Forgiveness, Modesty [humility],
Prudence, Self-regulation); Transcendence (Appreciation of beauty and ex-
cellence, Gratitude, Hope [optimism], Humour [playfulness], Spirituality
[religiousness]).
1 While VIA originally stood for “Values in Action”, it is today used as an acronym as-
sociated with the VIA Institute on Character (McGrath, 2015).
129
