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We investigated the relationship between various character strengths and life satisfaction among 5,299 adults from three Internet samples using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. Consistently and robustly associated with life satisfaction were hope, zest, gratitude, love, and curiosity. Only weakly associated with life satisfaction, in contrast, were modesty and the intellectual strengths of appreciation of beauty, creativity, judgment, and love of learning. In general, the relationship between character strengths and life satisfaction was monotonic, indicating that excess on any one character strength does not diminish life satisfaction.
Positive psychology is an umbrella term for theories and research about what makes life most worth living (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Strengths of character and positive experiences such as a satisfied life are among the central concerns of positive psychology (McCullough & Snyder, 2000; Seligman, 2002). Character strengths can be defined as positive traits reflected in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They exist in degrees and can be measured as individual differences. We speculate that these are grounded in biology through an evolutionary process that selected for these predispositions toward moral excellence as means of solving the important tasks necessary for survival of the species (cf. Bok, 1995; Schwartz, 1994; Wright, 1994).
As an initial step toward specifying important positive traits, The Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Strengths was developed. The details of our thinking are spelled out elsewhere (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Here are our conclusions:
* A character strength is "a disposition to act, desire, and feel that involves the exercise of judgment and leads to a recognizable human excellence or instance of human flourishing" (Yearley, 1990, p, 13).
* Character strengths are plural-that is, good character comprises a family of positive traits.
* Character strengths are not segregated mechanisms with automatic effects on behavior; rather, virtuous activity involves choosing virtue for itself and in light of a justifiable life plan, which means that people can reflect on their own strengths of character and talk about them to others.
* Character strengths can be distinguished from related individual differences such as talents and abilities by criteria such as those summarized in Table 1.
* The application of these criteria led us to identify 24 different strengths of character.
Table 2 lists the character...