TOPIC

Positivy Psychology

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life worth living, from the earliest moments of life to the final stretch of the journey. It is a relatively new approach within psychology, yet it circles a question that has long preoccupied humanity: what gives a person’s life meaning?

Life is never made up of calm and ease alone. Loss, pain, and long periods of hardship are realities that no one can fully avoid.

Positive psychology does not turn away from negative experiences. Instead, it widens the lens, recognising that joy, connection, a sense of wholeness, and hope are also vividly present, deeply valuable, and capable of existing alongside suffering. These positive experiences deserve to be listened to and reflected upon with equal seriousness. Living, then, is not only about getting through difficulties or repairing what is broken, but also about noticing and nurturing what is good.

My blog series is written to share perspectives from positive psychology on what it means to live a good life, and how these insights can find a place in everyday living. You may choose to read these pieces for study purposes. You may also arrive out of curiosity, with a quiet wish to understand yourself more deeply. Either way, these words are offered with a simple intention: to leave behind something worth reflecting on, and to open up paths that feel close enough to make life a little lighter, deeper, and more meaningful.

Character Strengths

The VIA classification contains 24 strengths of character organised under the six core virtues already described. Here are sketches of the virtues and the strengths.

Strengths of wisdom and knowledge

These positive traits are related to the acquisition and use of information in the service of the good life. In psychological language, these are cognitive strengths. Many of the strengths in the classification have cognitive aspects, e.g., social intelligence, fairness, hope, humor, and religiousness, which is why many philosophers concerned with virtue consider wisdom or reason as the chief virtue making all others possible.

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford Positive Psychology Series) (p. 142).

  • Thinking of novel and productive ways to do things; include artistic achievement but is not limited to it.

  • Taking an interest in all of ongoing experience; finding all subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.

  • Mastering new skills, topics and bodies of knowledge, whether on one’s own or formally; obviously is related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows.

  • 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.

  • Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of looking at the world that make sense to the self and to other people.

Strengths of humanity

These positive traits manifest in caring relationships with others and are described as disposition to tend and befriend. The entries in this virtue class resemble those identified as justice strengths, with the difference being that strengths of humanity are brought to bear in one-to-one relationships, whereas those of justice are most relevant in one-to-many relationships. The former strengths are interpersonal, the latter broadly social.

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford Positive Psychology Series) (p. 143).

  • Doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them.

  • Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated; being close to people.

  • Being aware of the motives and feelings of other people and the self; knowing what to do to fit into different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick.

Strengths of temperance

These positive traits protect us from excess. What are the types of excess of special concern? Hatred, against which forgiveness and mercy protect us. Arrogance, against which humility and modesty protect us. Short-term pleasure with long-term consequences, against which prudence protects us. And destabilizing emotional extremes of all sorts, against which self-regulation protects us.

It is worth emphasizing that the strengths of temperance temper our activities, rather than bringing them to a complete halt. We may be highly forgiving, but we can still defend ourselves while being pummeled. Modesty does not require falsehood—just authentic acknowledgment of who we are and what we do. A prudent course of action is still a course of action. Optimal self-regulation of emotions does not mean suspending our feelings, good or bad, but only taking charge of them.

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford Positive Psychology Series) (p. 144).

  • Forgiving those who have done wrong; giving people a second chance; not being vengeful.

  • Letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves; not seeking the spotlight; not regarding oneself as more special than one is.

  • Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.

  • Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined; controlling one’s appetites and emotions.

Strengths of courage

These strengths entail the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal. Some philosophers have regarded virtues as corrective because they counteract some difficulty inherent in the human condition, some temptation that needs to be resisted, or some motivation that needs to be checked or rechanneled. It is debatable whether all character strengths are corrective in one or more of these senses, but the following four strengths in the classification clearly are

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford Positive Psychology Series) (p. 142).

  • Speaking the truth but more broadly presenting oneself in a genuine way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one’s feelings and actions

  • 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

  • Finishing what one starts; persisting in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in completing tasks

  • Approaching life with excitement and energy; not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated

Strengths of justice

These strengths are broadly social, relevant to the optimal interaction between the individual and the group or the community. As the group shrinks in size and becomes more personalized, the strengths of justice converge with the one-on-one strengths of humanity. We maintain the distinction by proposing that strengths of justice are strengths among, whereas those of humanity are strengths between, but the difference is perhaps more of degree than kind.

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford Positive Psychology Series) (p. 143).

  • 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.

  • Encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done and at the same time fostering good relations within the group; organizing group activities and seeing that they happen.

  • Working well as a member of a group or team; being loyal to the group; doing one’s share.

Strengths of transcendence

The common theme is that each allows individuals to forge connections to the larger universe and thereby provide meaning to their lives. Almost all of the positive traits in the classification reach outside the individual, character after all is social in nature, but in the case of the transcendence strengths, the reaching goes beyond other people per se to embrace part or all of the larger universe. The prototype of this strength category is spirituality, variously defined but always referring to a belief in and commitment to the transcendent (nonmaterial) aspects of life, whether they be called universal, ideal, sacred, or divine.

How do the other strengths classified approach this prototype? Appreciation of beauty is a strength that connects someone directly to excellence. Gratitude connects someone directly to goodness. Hope connects someone directly to the dreamed-of future. Humor, admittedly the most controversially placed entry, connects someone directly to troubles and contradictions in a way that produces not terror or anger but pleasure.

Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology (Oxford Positive Psychology Series) (p. 144).

  • Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

  • Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks.

  • Expecting the best in the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought about.

  • Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; seeing the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes.

  • 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 one’s conduct and provide comfort.