Humility in Senior High School Students

Humility is a virtue, and it is important that this character strength is cultivated in school. This study aimed to examine the humility of students and what students think about humility. A total of 499 students were included. An online survey was used which employed a humility questioner with the Elliot theory construct (this included the following aspects: openness, accurate self-assessment, self-forgetfulness and focus on others). Data were analyzed descriptively, examining the percentage of each item. The results showed that the majority of students tended to want to seek information and could accept suggestions from others. There were 291 students who claimed to always think about others, not only think about themselves; 207 answered that they sometimes do; and only one student answered that they never do. 400 students were able to understand their own weaknesses and strengths, while 98 were not able to assess themselves. Students also tended to respond, understand, and evaluate themselves when receiving criticism and suggestions. Students viewed humility as not being arrogant, being humble, being able to respect other students and teachers, and helping others. It is recommended that further research investigates effective counseling models to increase student humility, and examines other connected virtues. Keywords: humility, character strengths, students

Character Strengths Beatitudes: A Secular Application of Ancient Wisdom to Appreciate Strengths for Spiritual Happiness and Spiritual Growth

A beatitude is a blessing. It is a form of appreciation that can be directed toward others or oneself. Theologically speaking, some frame the original beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew as pertaining to “spiritual happiness”, and recent scholars have offered a compelling argument that they are a call to flourishing. The focus here involves the creation and description of 24 blessings, or beatitudes, using the lens of one of the foundational and most researched areas in the sciences of flourishing, well-being, and positive psychology, which is the science of character strengths. Recent research has framed the 24 universal character strengths as spiritual strengths, hence particularly aligned for secular and nonsecular contexts of spiritual blessings. Each of the 24 character strengths was created into a blessing using the structure of the original beatitudes—with an opening description of the personal quality or attribute that is blessed and a follow-up outcome or core benefit that arises from the expression of that quality. In this way, these character strength beatitudes or character strength blessings offer an opportunity to appreciate the best positive qualities of others. These blessings are framed as primarily a mechanism of appreciating the character strengths of others, resting theoretically in both the grounding path and the sanctification path, the two types of integration of character strengths and spirituality that researchers have proposed. They are discussed, secondarily, as applied to the individual, for self-understanding, insight, and growth. These two purposes are relevant to the deepening of the spiritual journey, providing support as individuals pursue meaning in life and/or the sacred as they go deeper within themselves, up and beyond themselves, and sideways and interconnected to others. Practical applications, based in science, are discussed and point to avenues by which these character strengths beatitudes might both foster the appreciating of others’ strengths and support one’s own spiritual happiness, spiritual coping, and spiritual growth.

Good Character at College: The Combined Role of Second-Order Character Strength Factors and Phronesis Motivation in Undergraduate Academic Outcomes

A renewed interest in the study of character and virtue has recently emerged in the fields of Education and Psychology. The latest research has confirmed the association between virtuous consistent behaviours and academic positive outcomes. However, the motivational dimension of character (the intentions underlying the patterns of observed behaviours) has received little attention. This research aims to extend the knowledge on this topic by examining the predictive relationships between the behavioural and motivational dimensions of character, with reference to academic engagement, career self-doubt and performance of Spanish university students. A total of 183 undergraduates aged 18–30 (142 of whom were women) from the north of Spain completed specific parts of self-report questionnaires, including the Values in Action VIA-72, a Spanish translated and validated version of the Moral Self-Relevance Measure MSR, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Student Scale UWES-S9. The collected data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. The behavioural dimension of character (character strength factors of caring, self-control and inquisitiveness) showed positive associations with academic engagement and performance. The motivational dimension of character (phronesis motivation), was negatively related to career self-doubt. For the first time, the present study has provided support for the contribution of both dimensions of character to undergraduate academic outcomes.

Character Strength pada Atlet Penyandang Tuna Daksa di NPCI (National Paralympic Committee Indonesia) Kota Padang

The purpose of this study was to describe the Character Strength on the physically disabled athletes in NPCI (National Paralympic Committee Indonesia) Kota Padang. The method used mix method which are combine both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Sampling in this study using purposive sampling technique. The sample in this study was 10 athletes with physical disabilities in NPCI Kota Padang. The measuring instrument used in this study is the character strength scale which is based on the classification of character strength, namely wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence.Character strength can be seen from the measurement result using a scale consisting of 81 items in the form of a likert scale. After that, an interview was conducted with the subject to identify more deeply related to their character strength. The result of measurements and interviews show that athletes with physical disabilities in NPCI Kota Padang have five character strength. The five character strength are appreciation, spirituality, hope, gratitude and vitality.

Positive psychology: humour and its role within mental health nursing

This is the eleventh article in a series that explores the meaning of positive psychology and the importance it has on the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. It focuses on positive psychology interventions that help to develop humour and considers how the uplifting effect of humour can be experienced through contemporary use in the field of mental health nursing. This article will connect theories of humour that link to wellbeing. It introduces the concept of positive psychology and its links with humour. Finally, it follows with the application of humour within the nursing context. The practical activities provided in the article will help the reader increase their own awareness of their own character strength of humour, observe the type of humour they use and consider ways to develop its use and transferability within their own lifestyle.