Introduction
One of the first large-scale research projects of the positive psychology movement was the VIA – Values in Action project. The issues addressed by this project are related to the nature, structure, degree of integrity, dependence on cultural conditions, values, as well as opportunities and ways of developing the character in the most successful way. The authors identify two different levels of analysis – virtues and strengths.
Main body
The virtues are those values that are recognized as fundamental and unconditional in all or almost all cultures and societies. In order to determine them, an analysis of the most authoritative fundamental moral and philosophical texts of different cultures was made. As a result, six general cross-cultural virtues were identified. They are derived from historical reviews of the development of both Western and Eastern ethical thought. The virtues are described as universal and most abstract concepts in the scheme (Miller, 2018). Their generalization also contributes to the misunderstanding of the scheme; for example, Miller (2018) noted, there is no specific relationship between character strengths and virtues, nor has the unity of all virtues been defined.
In further analysis of each of the fundamental virtues, the personality traits or strengths of character that concretize it was identified. The basis for their selection was the analysis of more specific literature, namely from the field of psychiatry, youth problems, character formation, research organizations, as well as psychology, philosophy, and religion. Strengths are lower-level psychological components, structures, or mechanisms that specify core values, or virtues, different ways, and means to achieve them. Niemiec (2019) proposed six functions that strengths served in opportunities and adversities and described each of them in detail. According to him, these six functions of priming, mindfulness, appreciation, buffering, reappraisal, and resilience offer perspective on the vicissitudes of life (Niemiec, 2019). Also, according to Seligman (2015), the absence of strengths may be a real mental illness.1 As he claimed, “while the 24 strengths are the ‘good’ in a person, their absence, their opposite, and their excess are the ‘ill’ in a person” (Seligman, 2015, p. 6).
However, the different factors of definition and classification of strengths are questionable. Miller presented a range of these factors, among which the incompleteness concern can be noted, indicating that the list of character strengths is incomplete and some important positive traits could be missing (Miller, 2018). In his view, there is also the conflict concern, which points out that some strengths can seemingly conflict with each other. However, McGrath (2019) stated that the degree to which completeness is a reasonable goal is vital to consider as well. Regarding the conflict concern, only the general character of the person matters, since specific actions directly depend on a given situation.
Conclusion
The following conclusions can be drawn from the review above. The current system of classification and measurement of character traits has controversial points but is generally recognized in the field. It is not trying to replace the DSM mental disorder classification system entirely, and most likely only complements it. In general, this scheme is aimed at the need to balance the predominant emphasis on deviations, problems, and diseases, typical for psychology in almost the entire XX century, with close attention to the positive aspects of personality and its functioning. Most likely, with the appearance of more research, this classification will undergo some changes in the future towards completeness and universal acceptance.
References
- McGrath, R. E., (2019). Refining our understanding of the VIA Classification: Reflections on papers by Han, Miller, and Snow. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(1), 41-50, doi: 10.1080/17439760.2018.1528382
- Miller, B. C., (2018). Some philosophical concerns about how the VIA classifies character traits and the VIA-IS measures them. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(1), 6-19, doi: 10.1080/17439760.2018.1528382
- Niemiec, R.M., (2019). Six Functions of Character Strengths for Thriving at Times of Adversity and Opportunity: a Theoretical Perspective. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 1-22. Web.
- Seligman, E. P. M., (2015). Chris Peterson’s unfinished masterwork: The real mental illnesses. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 3-6, doi: 10.1080/17439760.2014.888582
Footnotes
1 Seligman is referring to the words of Peterson C.