week 4

Question 1

What are the six universal Virtues?

Answer 1

Wisdom & Knowledge: cognitive strengths that entail acquisition & use of knowledge

Courage: emotional strengths that involve exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of external/internal opposition

Humanity: interpersonal strengths that involve tending & befriending others

Justice: civic strengths that underlie community life

Temperance: strengths that protect against excess

Transcendence: strengths that forge connections to the larger universe & provide meaning

Question 2

What are the three components of a persons character?

Answer 2

Virtues - core characteristics
Strengths - Psychological processes & mechanisms
Situational themes - specific habits in specific situations

Question 3

Criteria to define a strength?

Answer 3

Character strength morally valued by society

We recognize “paragons of virtue” (individuals who manifestly display character strengths)

Must manifest in a range of personal behaviour, thoughts &/or feelings (i.e. trait-like)

Strengths allow individuals to achieve more than the absence of distress (i.e. contribute to feelings of fulfilment)

All strengths can be reliably measured as individual differences

Displaying strengths is uplifting for others