This document provides an overview of a seminar on character strengths. It defines character strengths as positive traits reflected in thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It outlines the main theorists in positive psychology, such as Seligman and Peterson. It discusses the history of positive psychology and lists the 24 character strengths organized under 6 virtues. The document also discusses how to apply character strengths in areas like education, sports, and politics and provides learning outcomes and suggested readings.

1. Strengths
Orla Shanahan
Hazel Kidney
J. K. Moran
Tom McGuire

2. Brainstorm
Take a moment to write down what do we
know about Strengths already?

3. Overview of seminar
O Definitions O Education and
O Theories strengths
O History O Children and
O Character Strengths
strengths
O Sport and Strengths
O Criteria for strengths
O Activity
O Difference between
strengths and talents O Politics and strengths
O 6 Virtues, 24 O Activity
Strengths O Summary
O Everyday Strengths O Suggested Readings

4. Learning Outcomes
O Understand strengths in positive
psychology
O Know your own strengths
O Knowledge of strengths in everyday
occurrence
O Be able to use them in a positive useful
manner
O Cite main theorists and their theories

5. Definition
O Character strengths:
positive traits reflected in thoughts, feelings and
behaviors. They exist in degrees and can be
measured as individual differences.
(Chung, 2008)
O “The truth is that all of us attain the greatest
success and happiness possible in this life
whenever we use our native capacities to their
greatest extent.” Dr. Smiley
Blanton, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst
(1882-1966)

6. Main Theorists
O Jonathan Haidt
O Christopher Peterson
O Martin Seligman

7. History
O World War II psychological mission:
O Cure mental disease
O Help people live more productive lives
O Identifying and nurturing high talents
O Used APA presidency shift focus from curing
mental illness to fulfilment
O Out of 17,000 articles, 61% about negative
issues
(Czapinksi, 1985, cited in Chung, 2008)

8. Improvement
O Higher gain in life satisfaction when
strengths and weaknesses worked on
rather than strengths alone
(Rust, Diessner & Reade, 2009)
O Excess in one strength does not cause a
drop in life satisfaction
(Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2004)

9. What are your character
strengths?
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-
3IjNr1gCg&feature=related- Character
strengths
O Take a minute to write down your
character strengths.

10. List of strengths
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNEu2j
p_go8

11. Criteria for a strength
O Criteria for character strengths:
Ubiquity = recognized across culture
Fulfilling = contributes to individual fulfillment, satisfaction and happiness
Morally valued = valued in its own right and not for the outcomes it may
produce
Does not diminish others = elevates others who witness it, produces
admiration not jealous
Infelicitous opposite = has negative opposites
Trait-like = is an individual difference with demonstrative generality and
stability
Measurable = can be measured by researchers as an individual difference
Distinctiveness = is not redundant with other character strengths
Paragons = strikingly embodied in some individuals
Prodigies = precociously shown by some children
Selective absence = is missing all together in some people
Institutions = deliberate target of social practices and rituals that try to
cultivate it

12. Difference between strength
and talents
O Strengths such as valour, courage, honesty should not be
mistaken for talents such as rhythm, accuracy or pitch.
O Main difference is that strengths are moral traits, talents are
non-moral
O Talents are innate, have it or you don't
O You can‟t improve talents as much as you can improve
strengths
O talents are easy, strengths require choice and action
(Seligman, 2002)

13. Activity
Most reported, least reported
O Kindness
O Fairness
O Honesty
O Prudence
O Self-regulation
O Gratitude
O Judgment
O Humility/modesty

14. Peterson & Seligman (2005):
O 6 Virtues
O 24 strengths
O Take the survey
O The VIA-IS can be taken for free at
http://www.viasurvey.org/, a site run by the VIA
institute. You need to register and then the site will
save your results so you can always revisit and
check your strengths.
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Lo-
hofLGc&feature=related?

15. 6 Virtues, 24 strengths

16. Everyday strengths
We use our strengths in our day to day life.
O Education
O Sport
O Politics

17. Strengths In education
O Incorporating a focus on strengths in the school mission.
Focusing on character strengths offers a step towards
1. greater engagement
2. greater achievement
3. greater well-being
Just naming the strengths of a teacher or a student is an
uplifting experience.
O When we are able to use our strengths, we are
satisfying our natural urges.
O We feel good about ourselves, we thrive and we feel
energized.

18. Education and strengths
O Using your strengths to perform the best
of your educational ability
O Learning through strengths
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZYveRLt
XXY-

19. Strengths In Education
O We perform better, we are more productive. We
have greater contentment and satisfaction. There
is a sense of accomplishment and meaning in our
work and personal life.
O In contrast, a continual focus on trying to fix
weaknesses leaves us frustrated, suppressing our
natural tendencies. This can lead to anger and
becoming psychologically and physically drained.
O Overtime, these negative kinds of emotions can
lead to depression.

20. Strengths In Education
O Elizabeth Hurlock‟s (1925) creative work
highlighted how praise of students‟ work has a
more powerful effect on math performance
than criticism of students‟ efforts.
O Don‟t focus on the weaknesses.
O Good character is what parents want to
encourage in their children, what teachers
attempt to communicate with their pupils, and
what friends look for in each other.

21. Education and strengths
O Teachers have found that storytelling, festival-
type celebrations, and character strengths
have a particular interaction in schools.
O It brings them together to create a program
that helps students and teachers notice
strengths in themselves and others.
O It also brings celebration and strengths into
the life of the whole school as well as the
classroom.

22. Educational strengths
O Comics are used as the most frequently
mentioned strength as an educational tool
along with the ability for comics to motivate
students.
O Haugaard (1973) shares that comics were the
only way to motivate her son to read.
O Versaci (2001) finds that comics can quite
literally put a human face on a given subject
resulting in an intimate, emotional connection
between his students and characters of a
comics story.

23. Activity
O Write your name in the middle of a piece
of paper and leave it on the desk.
O Write down what you feel the main
strength(s) of each person in the class are
on their piece of paper.
O Everyone should feel great after this, take
this piece of paper home and treasure it
!!

24. Children and Strengths
O Children are developing their strengths as
they grow up.
O Some children would naturally have good
character strengths but other may need to
work on them.

25. Marshmallow Experiment
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9
614HQ

26. Take a Break

27. Sport and Strengths
O Sport got there first, of course, and got there many
decades earlier.
O Even before Freud and Kraepelin had begun
constructing their contrasting disease models of
mental illness, athletes and footballers had come
to a basic conception of positive psychology.
O Meaning, significance and life satisfaction could
be found in a context of team, in the refusal to give
up, and in the deliberate exercise of courage.

28. A Window in Stirling, Scotland 1929

29. O The APA defines exercise and sport
psychology as the study of psychological
influences on performance and
participation in sports, exercise and other
forms of athletic activity.
O It is divided into three sections:
O (i) sport psychology
O (ii) exercise psychology
O (iii) human performance.
(Salama-Younes, 2011)

30. Sport Psychology
O Addresses the interactions between
psychology and sport performance
O Optimal athletic performance
O Well-being of coaches, referees, and athletes
O The connection between physical and
psychological functioning

31. Exercise Psychology
O The behavioral, social cognitive and
psychobiological antecedents
O The consequences of physical activity
O Focus on adoption and maintenance of
physical activity and its effects on
psychological well-being

32. Performance Psychology
O In essence, the psychology of
human performance
O Particularly looks at professions
that demand excellence in psychomotor
performance (e.g
surgeons, firefighters, military operations –
bomb squad).
O Also addressed are work environments in
which teamwork and motivation are important
to human performance (Weinberg, &
Gould, 1995).

33. Prodigies in Sport
O The term, „child prodigy‟, is generally used
to describe children under the age of 13
who show exceptional ability, comparable
to that of the most skilled adults, in a
particular field of human endeavor.
O There exist prodigies with respect to a
strength: children who show a strength at
a much earlier age than typical or at a
much more sophisticated level than
typical.
O Usually categorized in math or music

34. Examples
O Name: Alberto
"Baby" Arizmendi
O Sport: Boxing
O Turned Pro: 13
O Known For: Being
the youngest boxer
to turn pro

35. Examples
O Name: David
Beckam
O Sport: football
O Turned Pro: 13
O Known For:
Football…His hair

36. Examples
O Name: Ryan
Sheckler
O Sport:
Skateboarding
O Turned Pro: 13
O Know For:
Skateboarding, MT
V

37. Examples
O Name: Victor De
Leon III, a.k.a. Lil
Poison
O Sport: Gaming
O Turned Pro: 6
O Known For: Halo
Skills. The youngest-
ever pro gamer when
he signed to Major
League Gaming
(MLG) at age 6

38. Examples
O Name: Tiger Woods
O Sport: Golf
O Turned Pro: 8
O Known For: Formerly
the World no.1 he is the
highest-paid
professional athlete in
the world, having
earned an estimated
US$90.5 million from
winnings and
endorsements in
2010.[6][7]

39. Examples
O Name: Michael
Phelps
O Sport: Swimming
O Turned Pro: 15
O Known For: 8 gold
medals in Beijing
and holds 39 world
records.

40. In depth

41. How did he do it?
O It is not difficult to trace the anatomy of
Phelps‟ unprecedented success. It came
from three concepts that are well-
discussed in positive psychology:
O 1) engagement in his own strength
O 2) goal-setting
O 3) positive relationships with significant
others

42. Engagement in Strength
O Not many people are able to find their own
strength and talents, and even fewer are able to
engage in and develop them like Phelps has
O Diagnosed with ADHD
O “When I was in high school, one of my teachers
said I am never going to be successful,”
O His passion and commitment also demonstrates
that utilizing our strengths in the main areas of our
lives will bring us gratification and authentic
happiness, as proposed by Martin E.P. Seligman
(2002).

43. Goal Setting
O Keeps a list of his swimming goals on top of
his nightstand, near the alarm clock
O “The greatest thing is this proves that nothing
is impossible and goals are what it takes, this
is what I have learnt.” Michael Phelps
O Charles Noble – “You must have long range
goals to keep you from being frustrated by
short range failures”.

44. Positive Relationships
O Gross (2001), social support fosters
positive emotions and can serve as buffer
against stress.
O Just after winning his eighth
medal, Phelps said, “There‟s so much
emotions going through my head, so
much excitement. I guess I just want to
see my mom.”

45. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekOGfx
PH9oo

46. Activity
Divide into groups and answer the following questions. Each group is
given one of five different sports teams.
Questions:
1. What are the group strengths needed to be a good team?
2. What individual strengths do you need to be a part of this
team?
3. How does this build on your own character strengths??
4. What group team would best suit you as an individual based
on your character strengths?
The Five teams:
O Rugby
O Hockey
O Football
O Basketball
O Hurling

47. 6 Virtues, 24 strengths

48. Politics and strengths

49. Politics and strengths
O Positivity important in gaining voters
O survey of voters in Virginia, 75% of the people
indicated that negative campaigns were likely to
discourage people from voting (Freedman, 1999)
O Rudd and Julia Gillard – promoted a positive vision
O People with head strengths such as innovation and
creativity voted for Obama and people with
strengths related to the heart, such as humanity
and courage, voted for McCain (Park & Peterson,
2010).

50. Politics and strengths
O Many psychological and political observer
agree that Obama has most if not all of
the character strengths and virtues
(Seligman & Peterson, 1950)
O Character strengths and virtues – very
similar to what Obama calls his “values”
(Obama 2006)
O The Audacity of hope

51. Politics and strengths
O Primarily thanks to character strengths
and virtues that he became president
(Ripley, 2008)
O empathy, compassion, fairness, emotional
and social
O intelligence, generosity, and kindness
O He also has great self-confidence

52. Politics and strengths
O incredible perseverance, and “fierce
ambitions” (Obama, 2006a, p. 243)
O Humour very important part of Obama
make up
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnk89
1ChPc

53. Activity
Divide into groups
O Each person gives an example of when
they achieved a goal or accomplished
something good in their life.
O Take it in turns discuss the strengths that
would have been required to achieve
these goals.

54. Summary
O Know and identify your character
strengths.
O Use your strengths to help you achieve
better results in your everyday life.
O Don‟t focus on weaknesses.
O Working in areas that requires your
character strengths to increase life
satisfaction.

55. Any Questions ?

56. Suggested Readings
O Positive psychology: the science of
happiness and human strengths, By Dr.
Alan Carr (2004)
O Authentic Happiness: using the new
positive psychology to realize your
potential lasting fulfillment. Martin E. P.
Seligman ( 2002)
O Seilgman character strengths and virtues

57. References
O Chung, H. (2008). Resiliency and character strengths among
college students.
O Linley, P. A., Joseph, S., Harrington, S. & Wood, A. M.
(2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future.
The Journal of Positive Psychology; 1, (1), 3-16.
O Rust, T., Diessnar, R. & Reade, L. (2009). Strengths only or
strengths and relative weaknesses? A Preliminary Study. The
Journal of Psychology; 143, (5), 465–476
O Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic Happiness. The Free
Press; New York.
O Nansook Park, Christopher Peterson, and Martin E. P. Seligman
(2004). Strengths of Character and Well-Being. Journal of Social
and Clinical Psychology: Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 603-619.