If last night’s dream helped you solve a problem, it could indicate that you are high in the personality disposition of openness (Larsen, Buss, Wismeijer, & Song, 2017). It doesn’t stop there. Being more open is linked to a willingness to explore new experiences, including foods, hobbies, and other cultures. […]
Our leadership is in crisis. A survey commissioned by the World Economic Forum in 2015 found that 86% of people believed their leaders were ill equipped to solve the major global issues we face today (Shahid, 2015). Respondents recognized that those in charge needed to be more inspirational and “must […]
Identifying personal strengths is a key step on the road to self-improvement. Through self-reflection, identifying one’s strengths can cause increased self-confidence and general wellbeing. Even though strengths-based models and positive psychology are well known in psychological research and practice, these models can sometimes be difficult to apply in practice. Understanding […]
We live in a world of 7.8 billion people, and yet differences in thinking, feeling, and behavior can be boiled down to just five personality traits (Worldometers.info, 2020). Psychology broadly accepts that individual personality differences are explained by our degrees of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (McCrae & John, […]
What made you decide to read this article? Perhaps you saw the title and just had a gut feeling that it would prove useful to you. We often make these sorts of quick decisions, without a lengthy analytic process, guided by our intuition. Until recently, there was little compelling scientific […]
Perseverance refers to our ability to pursue a goal or passion over time, and stick with it if we encounter obstacles or setbacks. In the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths, perseverance is defined as “finishing what one starts; persevering in a course of action despite obstacles; ‘getting it out […]
Around the world, people give up time, money, and energy every day to improve the lives of others. It can be as simple as helping a neighbor with their shopping. Or more noteworthy, putting themselves at risk to rescue a stranger, changing healthcare policies to benefit communities, or helping to […]
At first sight, the ancient virtue of humility is not a particularly appealing one. Deriving from the word humus (earth), it appears to clash with our current valuation of self-worth and self-realization. But humility has nothing to do with meekness or weakness. And neither does it mean being self-effacing or […]
Intuition is that feeling in your gut when you instinctively know that something you are doing is right or wrong. Or it's that moment when you sense kindness, or fear, in another’s face. You don’t know why you feel that way; it’s just a hunch. But what is it? After […]
Creativity has been valued throughout human history. It has also been called “the skill of the future” (Powers, 2018). This is partly because creativity helps individuals adapt to uncertainty and solve problems as they arise. Research has also suggested that creativity – as a component of the personality factor “openness […]
How often have we asked ourselves: Who am I? The existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre spent most of his career pondering similar questions, ultimately believing that we are what we do. But what if we feel we are a set of potentials, as yet unrealized? Knowing and using your strengths can […]
Leaders throughout history have inspired, disappointed, empowered, enraged, challenged, and scared the people they serve. They can lead nations through wars or squander their country’s finances while offering a figurehead for our hopes and dreams. Think of Jacinda Ardern, Mahatma Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Angela Merkel, Donald […]
Love? That was not what I expected. According to the results of the Character Strength test, my top five strengths are: Love Curiosity Love of learning Fairness Appreciation of beauty and excellence I understand why ‘curiosity’ and ‘love of learning’ are near the top of my list. After all, I […]
In my work with young people, we often talk about their ideas of personal strengths and weaknesses. One of the exercises we begin with asks the students to think about one of their best friends or someone they admire, and to write a list of all the personal strengths they […]
In positive psychology, cultivating and using our personal strengths is an integral part of striving for “the good life” – very roughly speaking, the pursuit of eudaimonia or happiness. When we draw on the positive parts of our personality, research shows we can have a more significant positive impact on […]
When you think of how to live a life in which you can flourish, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For many, flourishing is tantamount to happiness. But, what is happiness? What contributes to a life well lived? We are often at our happiest when our natural […]
Character strengths are an indispensable aspect of positive psychology. They are a collection of personal abilities that buffer against mental health disorders and positively impact our overall health and wellbeing (Bromley, Johnson, & Cohen, 2006). The concept of character strengths stems as far back as the 1920s, and research on […]
Strengths-based approaches deploy the inherent strengths of clients to aid recovery and cultivate a sense of empowerment in terms of their own lives and treatment - irrespective of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, or ability. Whether those clients are individuals, families, groups or organizations, strengths and asset-based practices encourage clients […]
One of the biggest topics in positive psychology is character strengths. If you’ve given any positive psychology resources even a cursory glance, you’ve probably read about them in some capacity—what they are, how they fit into the field, how to improve them, and how to capitalize on them. Their popularity […]
If someone asked you to define your top strengths, how would you respond? Our strengths reflect inherent potentials that can help us achieve goals across our personal and professional lives. They define who we are and form a key part of what makes each of us unique. According to research, […]
Our fascination with wisdom dates back for thousands of years. Many people throughout history have pondered what it means to be wise. How do you define wisdom? Aristotle believed in two types of wisdom: theoretical and practical. The former involves the exploration of things we can't change, but about which […]
Are you one of those who believes in living life to the fullest and making the most out of every day? If so, then you are a zestful person. Zest makes an individual loaded with positive vitality that emanates from him to others around. In it lies true happiness, satisfaction, […]
When you consider the word “strength” what comes to mind? Hold on to that for a moment. For me, the word and image of “strength” make me think of synonyms like “sturdy” “solid” and antonyms like “weak”. I also think of my personal strengths. For example, a person can believe […]
We would all benefit from being more aware of our characteristics and personality traits. That's because they are significant predictors of our behaviors and attitudes. The world we live in is different from what it was ten, five, or even one year ago. Thanks to social media, easy-to-use communication tools, […]
“Honesty is the best policy.” – Benjamin Franklin Or is it? Benjamin Franklin seems to think so, but he also said this: “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” Benjamin […]
Character Strengths and Virtues is a groundbreaking handbook compiling the work of researchers to create a classification system for widely valued positive traits. This handbook also intends to provide an empirical theoretical framework that will assist positive psychology practitioners in developing practical applications for the field. There are 6 classes of […]
