scholarly journals Character Growth Following Collective Life Events: A Study on Perceived and Measured Changes in Character Strengths During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110409
Author(s):  
Fabian Gander ◽  
Lisa Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Growth Studies ◽  
Sequential Samples ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Character Growth

Did the COVID-19 pandemic promote character growth? Studies using sequential samples suggest that collective life events can result in character growth, but their conclusions have been questioned. This study used three approaches to examine character growth during the first wave of the pandemic: perceived changes in oneself and in a close other, and a longitudinal analysis of changes. In addition, we tested whether character strengths assessed before the pandemic predicted specific instances of growth, that is, engagement in volunteering and compliance with regulations during the pandemic. German-speaking participants ( N = 366, 76.5% female, mean age: 45.33 years) who had completed an assessment of character strengths before the pandemic reported on perceived changes in character strengths, engagement in volunteering, and compliance with regulations. A subsample also completed a second assessment of character strengths. The results showed that (a) participants reported perceived changes for most character strengths in both themselves and close others, while (b) longitudinal increases were only observed for humility and prudence. Pre-pandemic character strengths predicted (c) engagement in volunteering and (d) compliance with regulations. We conclude that actual character growth was smaller than the perceived changes but that the character strengths did predict relevant behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Character growth following life events? A study on character strengths during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Gander ◽  
Lisa Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Growth ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Longitudinal Analyses ◽  
Voluntary Engagement ◽  
Growth Studies ◽  
Sequential Samples ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Character Growth

Did the COVID-19 pandemic promote character growth? Studies using sequential samples suggested that collective life events can result in character growth, but their conclusions have been questioned. This study examined character growth during the COVID-crisis using three approaches (perceived changes in oneself and a closer other, and longitudinal analyses of changes). Additionally, it investigated the relationships between character strengths assessed before the pandemic, and well-being, compliance with regulations, and voluntary engagement during the pandemic.German-speaking participants (N = 366, 76.5% female, mean age: 45.33 years) completed an assessment of character strengths up to 1.5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic and reported on perceived changes in character strengths, posttraumatic growth, well-being, compliance, and engagement during the COVID-crisis between June and August 2020. Results show that (a) perceived changes were reported for most character strengths in both oneself and close others, but (b) longitudinal increases were only observed in humility and prudence. Pre-crisis character strengths showed relationships with both (c) posttraumatic and (d) well-being during the crisis and predicted (e) compliance with regulations and (f) voluntary engagement.We conclude that actual character growth was smaller than the perceived changes, but that character strengths predicted positive experiences and behaviors related to the COVID-pandemic.

Extraversion and neuroticism as predictors of objective life events: A longitudinal analysis.

1993 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 1046-1053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Magnus ◽  
Ed Diener ◽  
Frank Fujita ◽  
William Pavot
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Longitudinal Analysis

scholarly journals Character Strengths in Children and Adolescents

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willibald Ruch ◽  
Marco Weber ◽  
Nansook Park ◽  
Christopher and Peterson†
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Parent Ratings ◽  
Total N ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
General Self Efficacy

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth) is a self-report inventory assessing 24 character strengths among people 10–17 years of age. This paper describes the adaptation and initial validation of a German version of this measure utilizing several samples (in total N = 2,110 self-reports of participants aged 10–17 years, 56.5% girls; N = 219 parent-reports) from Germany and Switzerland. The 24 scales yielded high reliability and exhibited stability over 4 months. Self-reports and parent-ratings of strengths converged well. An oblique five-factor solution was found to represent the data well. There were small age effects, and small to medium gender effects (e.g., girls scored higher on beauty and kindness). Character strengths of hope, gratitude, love, and zest correlated positively with global life satisfaction. Furthermore, most of the strengths were strong predictors of general self-efficacy. Overall, the German VIA-Youth demonstrated good psychometric properties and promising evidence for validity. The German VIA-Youth is recommended for the assessment of character strengths in German-speaking children and adolescents.

Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS)

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willibald Ruch ◽  
René T. Proyer ◽  
Claudia Harzer ◽  
Nansook Park ◽  
Christopher Peterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Peer Ratings ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Median Test

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS; Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005a ) is an English-language self-report questionnaire that measures 24 widely-valued character strengths. The present paper describes the creation and adaptation of the German version of the VIA-IS and its peer-rating form using a sample of 1,674 adults. The 24 subscales had high reliability (median α = .77; median corrected item-total correlations = .45) and high stability across 9 months (median test-retest correlation = .73). The VIA-IS peer form also had high reliability (median α = .81). Self- and peer-ratings of strengths converged as expected (median correlation = .40), and on average ordered the strengths in the same way, correlating .88 across the 24 strengths. There were low to modest correlations of the VIA subscales with demographic variables. Neither the VIA-IS nor the VIA-IS Peer was strongly influenced by social desirability. Correlations with three different measures of subjective well-being replicated findings from earlier studies of the original English VIA-IS and supported the validity of the scale. Furthermore, relations to self-reported behavior and contentment with various aspects of life were modest but congruent with the meaning of the scales (e.g., higher endorsement of religion among spiritual participants, less cigarette smoking among participants with higher self-regulation). Overall, the German VIA-IS and VIA-IS Peer demonstrated good psychometric properties and promising validity evidence. These scales can be recommended for the assessment of strengths of character in the German-speaking world.

scholarly journals EXAMINING THE ROLE OF ADVERSITY AND POSITIVE LIFE EVENTS IN THE RELATION BETWEEN GRATITUDE AND WELL-BEING

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S928-S928
Author(s):  
Omar E Staben ◽  
Frank Infurna ◽  
Kevin Grimm ◽  
Suniya Luthar
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Positive Life Events ◽  
Positive Experiences

Abstract Character strengths are emerging as a key outcome of interest in midlife and old age. One key avenue that has been largely unexplored is what the key antecedents are and the moderating role of adversity and positive life events experiences. The limited current research on the topic has examined the direct relations among character strengths and well-being, whereas less is known regarding the role of negative and positive experiences, which may provide a better understanding of what contributes to character strengths. This study explores whether major life adversities (i.e. personal, family, work related) and positive life events (i.e. job promotion, engagement, vacations) experiences are associated with character strengths— namely gratitude, and well-being. We use data from a sample of participants in midlife (n=362, ages 50-65) who completed monthly online surveys for a period of two years. Multilevel models showed that greater adversity was associated with poorer well-being, whereas positive life events were predictive of higher overall well-being. Individuals’ experience of fewer positive life events was associated with stronger increases in well-being when individuals expressed more gratitude. Conversely, adversity was associated with increasing well-being when individuals expressed more gratitude. Collectively, our findings provide evidence for the role of adversity and positive life experiences to the extent that character strengths have the potential to shape the course of development in adulthood. Our discussion focuses on the potential links that underlie our findings and how they can inform interventions aimed at mitigating the consequences of adversity.

scholarly journals Primal world beliefs correlate strongly but differentially with character strengths

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Stahlmann ◽  
Willibald Ruch
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Safe Place ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
The World ◽  
German Speaking

Primal world beliefs–primals–are a category of beliefs about the overall character of the world (e.g., the world is a safe place). Theory suggests that such beliefs drive personality development–or at least reflect personality differences, such as character strengths. We examined the relationships of primals with character strengths among 1122 German-speaking adults. The primary primal good explained the most variance in the majority of character strengths, especially hope, spirituality, zest, gratitude, curiosity, and leadership. Including specific secondary (e.g., safe, enticing, alive) and tertiary primals (e.g., beautiful, needs me, funny) often yielded better predictions, but, with few exceptions, increments were typically smaller than that of the primary primal. We recommend including these primals in positive psychology interventions and describe three couplings of primals and character strengths that may prove especially fruitful for future research and practice.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Stressful Life Events, Smoking Behaviors, and Gender Differences in a Multicultural Sample of Adolescents

2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (11) ◽  
pp. 1521-1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara L. Booker ◽  
Jennifer B. Unger ◽  
Stanley P. Azen ◽  
Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati ◽  
Brian Lickel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Smoking Behaviors ◽  
And Gender

Stressful life events and smoking behaviors in Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1085-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara Booker ◽  
Jennifer Unger ◽  
Stanley Azen ◽  
Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati ◽  
Brian Lickel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Chinese Adolescents ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Smoking Behaviors
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