The VIA Survey is a self-report questionnaire that measures 24 character strengths which are classified under 6 core virtues. It was developed by the VIA Institute on Character and is based on the VIA Classification of Character Strengths. The VIA Survey has established good reliability and validity and has been translated into several languages. Interpretation of results focuses on identifying a person's top 5 signature strengths. The survey provides a strengths-based perspective and framework that can be applied in various settings.

1. VIA
Jeni Go
PSY583M
July 7, 2016

2. VIA
•According to VIA Character Org’s website:
“VIA” is a word that stands on its own; in Latin, it means “the way” or “the path.”
It refers to the following:
1. VIA Institute on Character (the nonprofit organization)
2. VIA Classification (the universal classification of character strengths and virtues)
3. VIA Survey (the measurement tool used to assess the 24 character strengths).
“VIA” previously stood for “Values in Action,” however, this was changed in 2007 in
order to place emphasis on the primary focus of this work – core character.

3. VIA
•According to Park, Peterson and Seligman (2004):
The Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Strengths
“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.”
“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).”

4. VIA Survey
•Tool that assess the 24 Character Strengths
•A personality assessment. Character strengths are one part of
the personality.

5. Outline
A. Description of the Test (e.g. Author’s publisher, no. of items)
B. History (e.g. Date first published, revisions)
C. Administration and Scoring Procedure
D. Description of Interpretation
E. Technical Properties (e.g. reliability and validity)
F. Applications in the Philippine Setting
G. Strengths and Limitations

6. Description of the Test
•The test measures the character strengths of individuals.
Character strengths are known as the foundation of positive
psychology.
•According to Niemiec (2013), character strengths are positive
psychological characteristics that are considered to be the basic
building blocks of human goodness and human flourishing
(Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
A1

7. Description of the Test
•VIA-IS (Values In Action – Inventory of Strengths): 72, 120, or
240 item self-report questionnaire; 5-point Likert Scale. It
includes 3, 5, and 10 items per strength respectively.
•VIA Youth Survey: 96-item self report questionnaire; The
assessment of character strengths in children/adolescents
between the ages of 10 and 17, there is the widely used,
validated VIA Youth Survey (Park & Peterson, 2006b).
A3

8. Description of the Test
According to Niemiec (2013), VIA Classification of Character Strengths
came from:
• Six (6) virtues [wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and
transcendence] – were identified as core characteristics valued by
moral philosophers and religious thinkers across time and world
cultures (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
• Twenty-four corresponding strengths of character – “psychological
ingredients” or pathways to those virtues – emerged out of a lengthy
list of candidates that were thoroughly examined.
A2

9. (Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2004). A4

10. VIA Classification of
Character Strengths
Classified according to Virtues (Park, Peterson &
Seligman, 2004).
A5

11. A. Wisdom - hardfoughtandthenusedforgood.Nobleintelligence.
1. Creativity [originality, ingenuity]: Thinking of novel and productive ways to do
things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it.
2. Curiosity [interest, novelty–seeking, openness to experience]: Taking an interest in
all of ongoing experience; finding all subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and
discovering.
3. Judgment [open–mindedness, critical thinking]: Thinking things through and
examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change
one’s mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly.
4. Love of learning - Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether
on one’s own or formally; obviously related to the strength of curiosity but goes
beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows.
5. Perspective [wisdom]: Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of
looking at the world that make sense to oneself and to other people.
A5.1

12. B. Courage -thecapacitytoovercomefear
6. Bravery [valor]: Not shrinking from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain; speaking
up for what is right even if there is opposition; acting on convictions even if
unpopular; includes physical bravery but is not limited to it.
7. Persistence [perseverance, industriousness]: Finishing what one starts; persisting
in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in
completing tasks.
8. Integrity [authenticity, honesty]: Speaking the truth but more broadly presenting
oneself in a genuine way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one’s
feelings and actions.
9. Zest [vitality, enthusiasm, vigor, energy]: Approaching life with excitement and
energy; not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling
alive and activated.
A5.2

13. C. Humanity - Improvinganother’swelfarethrough
interpersonalstrengths, altruisticorpro-social
behavior.
10. Love - Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and
caring are reciprocated; being close to people.
11. Kindness [generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, “niceness”]:
Doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them.
12. Social intelligence [emotional intelligence, personal intelligence]: Being aware of
the motives and feelings of other people and oneself; knowing what to do to fit in
to different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick.
A5.3

14. D. Justice –Itisthatwhichmakeslifefair.
13. Citizenship [social responsibility, loyalty, teamwork]: Working well as a member
of a group or team; being loyal to the group; doing one’s share.
14. Fairness Treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice;
not letting personal feelings bias decisions about others; giving everyone a fair
chance.
15. Leadership - Encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done
and at the same time maintaining good relations within the group; organizing group
activities and seeing that they happen.
A5.4

15. E. Temperance – “Everything in moderation.” Controlover
excess. Any formofauspicious self-restraint.
16. Forgiveness and mercy - forgiving those who have done wrong; giving people a
second chance; not being vengeful.
17. Modesty/ Humility - Letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves; not
seeking the spotlight; not regarding oneself as more special than one is.
18. Prudence - Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or
doing things that might later be regretted.
19. Self-regulation - [self–control]: Regulating what one feels and does; being
disciplined; controlling one’s appetites and emotions.
A5.5

16. F. Transcendence –A broadsense ofconnectionto
something higher in meaning and purpose than ourselves.
20. Appreciation of beauty/excellence [awe, wonder, elevation]: Noticing and
appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life,
from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.
21. Gratitude - Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking
time to express thanks.
22. Hope - [optimism, future–mindedness, future orientation]: Expecting the best in
the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that
can be brought about.
A5.6

17. F. Transcendence –A broadsense ofconnectionto
something higher in meaning and purpose than ourselves.
23. Humor [playfulness]: Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people;
seeing the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes.
24. Spirituality [religiousness, faith, purpose]: Having coherent beliefs about the
higher purpose and meaning of the universe; knowing where one fits within the
larger scheme; having beliefs about the meaning of life that shape conduct and
provide comfort.
A5.7

18. History
•1998 – Dr. Neal Mayerson connected with Dr. Martin Seligman to explore the newly
forming field of Positive Psychology. Discovery of the key construct (character) as best
to explore about human beings.
•2001 – VIA Institute on Character was established as a non-profit organization to
advance the science and practice of character and to fill the world with greater virtue
Through the support of the Mayerson Foundation and the leadership of Dr. Seligman
and Dr. Chris Peterson the VIA Classification of Character Strengths, as well as the
landmark publication Character Strengths and Virtues (VIA's handbook), was written.
Upon its publication it was hailed as the "backbone of Positive Psychology".
•2003 – VIA Survey was made open for anyone to take.
•2004 – VIA Classification was published.
B1

19. Administration and Scoring Procedure
•VIA Survey (Online) has 120 questions, 10-15 minutes.
•“VIA-IS has been translated in Danish, French, German, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese, and
is in a later stage of the translation process in more than 20 other languages, including Urdu,
Farsi, and Portuguese.” (Niemiec, 2013).
•Participants were instructed to answer each item in relation to ‘‘whether the statement
describes what you are like’’, and responses are fully anchored on a five point scale from (1 =
very much unlike me; 5= very much like me).
•Scores for each of the 24 strengths have a potential range of 10 through 50, with higher
scores indicating a greater endorsement of the strength, although the mean subscale scores
are reported below. The typical scoring for the measure is ipsative, with participant feedback
giving details of the respondents’ top five ‘‘signature strengths’’, with these five strengths
being ranked relative to the other 19 strengths of the classification.
C1

20. Description of Interpretation
Interpretation is via ranks. It gives the strengths from 1 being the highest down to 24.
Signature strengths are the top 5 strengths. The most important criterion in
considering whether a character strength is signature, or not, is whether the
strength is essential and “core” to who the person is. Additional characteristics of
signature strengths include:
• Sense of ownership and authenticity; “this is the real me”
• Consistent, wide use across life domains and situations
• Feeling of excitement while displaying it, particularly at first
• Easy and natural to use - a rapid learning curve
• Continuous learning of new ways to enact the strength
• A yearning to act in accordance with the strength
• A feeling of inevitability in using the strength, as if one cannot be stopped
• Feeling energized, rather than exhausted in using it
• A creation and pursuit of fundamental projects that revolve around it
• Intrinsic motivation to use the strength
D1

21. Technical Properties
•VIA Survey has established good reliability and validity.
Reliability
> Internal Consistency
• VIA Survey Long Form (240-Item) – 0.83
• VIA 120-Item – 0.79
• VIA 72-Item – 0.75
Validity
>Validity Coefficient
• The VIA Survey long form: VIA Long form/240-item: 1.0, VIA 120-item: 0.93, VIA 72-item:
0.87
• Activities Questions – 48 questions comprised of two exemplar activities for each
character strength: VIA Long form/240-item: 0.55, VIA 120-item: 0.50, VIA 72-item: 0.48
• Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2010): VIA Long form/240-item: 0.43, VIA 120-item: 0.39,
VIA 72-item: 0.36
E1

22. Technical Properties
VIA Survey Long Form (240-item)
•All scales have satisfactory alphas (>.70).
•Scores are skewed to the right but still show variation.
•One may not want to make much of these findings, but the highest mean scores are
consistently found for the humanity strengths of kindness and love, whereas the
lowest are found for the temperance strengths of forgiveness, prudence, humility and
self-regulation.
•Test-retest correlations for all scales over a 4-month period are substantial (>.70) and
in almost all cases approach their internal consistencies.
E2

23. Technical Properties
VIA Survey Long Form (240-item)
•Acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
•Moderate and growing levels of psychometric validity, meaning it correlates
reasonably well with constructs that it would be expected to be related to and does
not correlate with constructs it should not be related to, such as social desirability.
•Predictive validity, the studies reported demonstrate moderate and acceptable levels.
Further validity studies are ongoing.
E3

24. Technical Properties
Factor Analyses (Niemiec, 2013):
•The four factors were described as positivity, intellect, conscientiousness, and niceness
(Macdonald, Bore, & Munro, 2008).
•Another factor analysis found 5 factors: interpersonal (humor, kindness, leadership, love,
social intelligence, and teamwork); fortitude (bravery, honesty, judgment, perseverance,
perspective, and self-regulation); cognitive (appreciation of beauty/excellence, creativity,
curiosity, and love of learning); transcendence (gratitude, hope, religiousness, and zest); and
temperance (fairness, forgiveness, modesty/humility, and prudence; Peterson et al., 2008).
•A third factor analysis found 4 factors: interpersonal, which reflects positive behavior toward
others; fortitude, which reflects openness and bravery; vitality, which reflects a global factor
of positive qualities; and cautiousness, which reflects self-control (Brdar & Kashdan, 2009). E4

25. Applications in the Philippine Setting
Global Perspective
•Matches the Filipino characteristics such as “masipag, maunawain, matulungin,
matiyaga, malikhain, masiyahin (at palangiti din).”
•Dealing with everyday life. Character strengths could serve as a philosophy of an
individual.
•Poverty in the Philippines could be overcome and Filipinos can stand to it with the
character strengths that will keep them going. (i.e. perseverance despite of everyday
struggles to earn a living to buy basic needs, help their families)
Classified Perspective
•Education, Workplace, Politics F1

26. Strengths and Limitations
G1
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• Strengths’ perspective that
builds up and energizes
individuals.
• Universal scope
• Character strengths can be used
for the alignment of talent,
interest, resources.
• “Is trait-like, meaning it
manifests in a range of
behaviors, thoughts, and
feelings. It is general enough to
cross situations & is stable over
time.”
• Does not capture what is wrong
with individuals. (i.e. negative
traits, abnormal tendencies)
• Only measures the positive area
of personality.
• Too much use of character
strength.

27. References
Character Strengths and Virtures. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2016 from Via Character: http://www.viacharacter.org/www/About-Institute/Character-Strengths-and-Virtues.
Frequently Asked Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2016 from Via Character: https://www.viacharacter.org/www/About-Institute/FAQs?QuestionID=83&AFMID=592.
Linley, P.A., Maltby, J., Wood, A., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., Petersn, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. (2007). Character strengths in the United
Kingdom: The VIA Inventory of Strengths. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 341-351.
Niemiec, R. M. (2013). VIA character strengths: Research and practice (The first 10 years). In H. H. Knoop & A. Delle Fave (Eds.), Well-being and cultures:
Perspectives on positive psychology, 11-30.
Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. (2004). Strengths of Character and Well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23 (5), 603-619.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press
and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Using VIA In Research Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2016 from Via Character: http://www.viacharacter.orgch/Psychometric-Data.
VIA Character Strengths Logo. (n.d.) Retrieved June 12, 2016 from Google: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=VIA+CHARActer+strengths+LOGO&rlz=1C1CHBF_enPH69
0PH690&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=623&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5oMqY36LNAhUIEpQKHd1wB1oQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1#imgrc=nGAhyAfx-9dAjM%3A.

28. Thank you.