scholarly journals Co-occurrence Patterns of Character Strengths and Measured Core Virtues in German-Speaking Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willibald Ruch ◽  
Sonja Heintz ◽  
Lisa Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Character Strengths ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Character Strength ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Occurrence Patterns ◽  
Via Classification ◽  
Combined Data

The VIA Classification on character strengths and virtues suggests 24 character strengths clustered into six core virtues (wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence). Three recent studies employed different methods for testing the assignment of character strengths to virtues (e.g., expert and layperson ratings), and generally supported the VIA classification. However, the co-occurrence of character strengths and virtues within individuals has not been examined yet. Another untested assumption is that an individual’s composition of character strengths is related to being considered of “good character.” Thus, the present study addresses three research questions: (1) How do character strengths and measured virtues co-occur within individuals? (2.1) How does the number of character strengths an individual possesses within a virtue cluster relate to their level of the respective virtue? (2.2) How does the composition of an individual’s character strengths relate to being considered of “good character”? We combined data from different studies to obtain a sample of N = 1,241 participants (n = 897 self-raters, n = 344 informant-raters, 70.1% female) aged 18 to 92 years (M = 30.64). All participants completed assessments of character strengths and virtues. Regarding (1), we found a high convergence of the correlations between strengths and virtues and the VIA Classification: 22 out of 24 character strengths correlated with the assigned virtue (exceptions were hope, which correlated highest with courage, and humor, which correlated highest with humanity). Also, 15 character strengths showed the numerically highest correlation with their assigned virtue. Regarding (2.1), overall, we found a linear trend between the number of strengths within one cluster and the virtue level. Regarding (2.2), we found higher levels of reported “good character” in those who possessed either (a) at least one character strength in each virtue cluster or (b) all character strengths in at least one virtue compared to those who did not. The present results contribute to the discussion regarding the structure of character: individuals’ character strengths relate to differences in virtues, across different measures and data sources. Relationships were mostly as expected, and deviations were consistent with results obtained using other approaches.

scholarly journals Character Strengths in the Life Domains of Work, Education, Leisure, and Relationships and Their Associations With Flourishing

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Wagner ◽  
Lisa Pindeus ◽  
Willibald Ruch
Keyword(s):  
Work Performance ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Life Domains ◽  
Character Strength ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Trait Level ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Perceived Relevance ◽  
Work Education

A growing body of research demonstrates the relevance of character strengths for flourishing in general, but also for important outcomes across different life domains (e.g., work performance and relationship satisfaction). Studies have also shown that there are differences in the extent to which character strengths are applied, that is, perceived as relevant and shown in behavior in a given context, between work and private life, but they have not considered other life domains. This study aims to close this gap by examining the life domains of work, education, leisure, close personal relationships, and romantic relationships. The present study investigates whether (a) strengths-related behavior across different life domains explains additional variance in flourishing beyond the trait level of each respective character strength and studies (b) differences in the relevance of character strengths and strengths-related behavior across different life domains, and examines (c) their relationships with flourishing. A sample of 203 German-speaking adults (78.8% females; mean age = 29.4 years) completed self-reports assessing flourishing and character strengths. They also indicated which of the five life domains were personally relevant to them (i.e., on average 4.23 life domains) and reported the character strengths' perceived relevance and the frequency of displaying strengths-related behavior for each of these life domains separately. The results demonstrate that (a) strengths-related behavior averaged across all relevant life domains explained unique variance in flourishing above the trait-level of character strengths in some cases (e.g., creativity, kindness, and fairness), (b) different life domains were characterized by specific profiles of character strength—regarding both their relevance and strength-related behavior. Moreover, (c) character strengths and strengths-related behavior in different life domains both showed substantial correlations with flourishing. In some cases, these associations were domain-specific (e.g., displaying love of learning in the context of education was related to higher levels of flourishing). In conclusion, we suggest that examining strengths-related behavior across different life domains represents a worthwhile addition to research on character strengths.

scholarly journals Review of current approaches to spatially explicit urban vulnerability assessments: hazard complexity, data sources, and cartographic representations

GeoScape ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-61
Author(s):  
Pavel Raška ◽  
Martin Dolejš ◽  
Jan Pacina ◽  
Jan Popelka ◽  
Jan Píša ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Decision Support Tools ◽  
Multiple Hazards ◽  
Vulnerability Assessments ◽  
Support Tools ◽  
Combined Data

AbstractSocio-ecological hazards are processes that − depending on the vulnerability of societal systems − may have profound adverse impacts. For this reason, the current discourse in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been experiencing a shift toward a vulnerability-led paradigm, raising new questions about how to address (i) the complexity of vulnerabilities to multiple hazards, (ii) their cultural, dynamic, and subjective character, and (iii) the effectiveness and legitimacy of vulnerability assessments as decision-support tools. In this paper, we present a review of 707 vulnerability studies (derived from the Clarivate WoS database; 1988−2018) with a particular focus on urban settings and spatially explicit assessments in order to evaluate current efforts to meet the aforementioned issues. The reviewed studies assessed vulnerabilities to 35 hazard types that were predominantly (n=603, 85%) analysed as single hazards (mostly seismic, flood, and groundwater contamination hazards, as well as climate change), whereas only 15% (n=104) of studies focused on multiple hazards (mostly atmospheric hazards). Within the spatially explicit vulnerability studies, almost 60% used data collected by the study itself (mostly seismic hazards), while statistical and combined data were both employed in 20% of cases (mostly floods, climate change, and social and political hazards). Statistical data were found to have only limited transferability, often being generalised to be applicable in small-scale studies, while reducing the role of cultural and contextual factors. Field research data provided high-resolution information, but their acquisition is time-consuming, and therefore fixed at a local scale and single temporal stage. Underlying hazard types and suitable data sources resulting in other differences found a preference towards the specific coverage and resolution of vulnerability maps that appeared in 44% of all reviewed studies. Altogether, the differences we found indicated a division of spatially explicit vulnerability research in two major directions: (i) geological and geomorphological studies focusing on physical vulnerability, using their own data surveys at a detailed scale and lacking links to other hazards, and (ii) other studies (mostly atmospheric hazards and socialpolitical hazards) focusing on social or combined vulnerabilities, using primarily statistical or combined data at a municipal, regional, and country scale with occasional efforts to integrate multiple hazards. Finally, although cartographic representations have become a frequent component of vulnerability studies, our review found only vague rationalisations for the presentation of maps, and a lack of guidelines for the interpretation of uncertainties and the use of maps as decision-support tools.

scholarly journals Protestant cemeteries in Czechia: a necrogeographical perspective

Geografie ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-207
Author(s):  
Zdeněk R. Nešpor
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Social Geography ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Important Research ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Czech Lands ◽  
The Impact

The article introduces the field of necrogeography to Czech social geography and provides information on existing (nationwide) data sources. The author takes the issue of Protestant confessional cemeteries as an example, briefly outlines the history of these special types of burial fields (established principally from the end of the 18th century until approximately the mid-20th century), and provides a historical geographical analysis of their regional distribution in the Czech Lands. The article proves the impact of religious and geographical factors on the emergence (and eventual demise) of non-Catholic Christian confessional cemeteries and, at the same time, the research unveiled a number of important research questions to be addressed by Czech necrogeography in the future.

Character Strength Development of Leaders in Cyberspace

2017 ◽  
pp. 40-59
Author(s):  
Fil Arenas
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Strength Development ◽  
Transformational Leaders ◽  
Virtual Leadership ◽  
Character Strength ◽  
Virtual Spaces ◽  
Interactive Environment ◽  
New Challenges

Leadership development in cyberspace presents new challenges within an abstract interactive environment. The flexibility and versatility of virtual spaces offers many freedoms from ordinary rules and restrictions. Examining relevant signature character strengths under the high six virtues of Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) provide guidance for virtual leadership. Aspiring authentic transformational leaders must continue their awareness of selfhood and society in cyberspace milieus by opening their human apertures while leveraging their signature character strengths.

Testing the Effectiveness of a Strengths-Based Intervention Targeting All 24 Strengths: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412093744
Author(s):  
Lobna Chérif ◽  
Valerie M. Wood ◽  
Christian Watier
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Strength Development ◽  
Character Strength ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Time Interaction ◽  
Experimental Group

This study assessed the effectiveness of a strengths-based randomized controlled trial focused on fostering all 24 character strengths in a group of 75 participants from a University in Tunisia. Participants randomly assigned to the challenge condition (n = 40) received an email each day for 24 days, that highlighted a particular strength of the day including why the strength is valuable, how to implement the strength behaviourally, and a motto related to that strength. Those in the control condition (n = 35) simply received emails containing the motto for each strength daily for 24 days. We assessed all participants’ levels of happiness before the experiment (T0), the day following the experiment (T1), and one-month following the experiment (T2). Results from a 2 (group) X 3 (time) split plot ANOVA revealed a significant group-by-time interaction, such that at T2 the experimental group had greater happiness scores than the control group. These findings provide some evidence that even “minimalist” interventions (involving the receipt of emails encouraging character-strength development), might be effective for promoting gains in happiness even one month after the intervention.

“Give me actual music stuff!”: The nature of feedback in a collegiate songwriting class

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153
Author(s):  
Stuart Chapman Hill
Keyword(s):  
Data Sources ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Feedback Culture ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Recommendations For Practice ◽  
Research Questions

This study aimed to understand the nature of feedback that students and teacher exchanged in a workshop-based collegiate songwriting course. Two research questions guided the study: (1) What kinds of feedback do students and teacher give as they respond to each other’s work? and (2) What factors contribute to the culture of feedback in this class? Data sources included field notes from class observations, individual interviews with four informant students, a group interview, and a student-conducted interview of the investigator, who was also the instructor of the class. The analysis generated four themes that describe the feedback culture of this songwriting class: micro feedback, macro feedback, feedback roles, and overall feedback culture. Recommendations for practice and future research are presented.

scholarly journals Character Strengths in Children and Adolescents

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willibald Ruch ◽  
Marco Weber ◽  
Nansook Park ◽  
Christopher and Peterson†
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Parent Ratings ◽  
Total N ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
General Self Efficacy

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth) is a self-report inventory assessing 24 character strengths among people 10–17 years of age. This paper describes the adaptation and initial validation of a German version of this measure utilizing several samples (in total N = 2,110 self-reports of participants aged 10–17 years, 56.5% girls; N = 219 parent-reports) from Germany and Switzerland. The 24 scales yielded high reliability and exhibited stability over 4 months. Self-reports and parent-ratings of strengths converged well. An oblique five-factor solution was found to represent the data well. There were small age effects, and small to medium gender effects (e.g., girls scored higher on beauty and kindness). Character strengths of hope, gratitude, love, and zest correlated positively with global life satisfaction. Furthermore, most of the strengths were strong predictors of general self-efficacy. Overall, the German VIA-Youth demonstrated good psychometric properties and promising evidence for validity. The German VIA-Youth is recommended for the assessment of character strengths in German-speaking children and adolescents.

scholarly journals Effects of Socialization Methods and Peer Attachment on Character Strength of School-Aged Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Risa Umasyah ◽  
Alfiasari Alfiasari
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Rural Families ◽  
Peer Attachment ◽  
Character Strength ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
Families With Children

<p>This study aimed to analyze the influences of socialization methods and peer attachment on character strength of scholl-aged in rural families. This study employed cross sectional approach using survey and interview. A hundred of families with children at grades 4 and 5 in two public elementary schools at Pamijahan Sub District, Bogor Regency participated in this study. This found only age and peer attachment that had significant influence on character strengths of school-aged children in rural families.</p>

A systematic review of text mining approaches applied to various application areas in the biomedical domain

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudha Cheerkoot-Jalim ◽  
Kavi Kumar Khedo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Text Mining ◽  
Biomedical Application ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Biomedical Text ◽  
Biomedical Text Mining ◽  
Biomedical Domain ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Research Questions

Purpose This work shows the results of a systematic literature review on biomedical text mining. The purpose of this study is to identify the different text mining approaches used in different application areas of the biomedical domain, the common tools used and the challenges of biomedical text mining as compared to generic text mining algorithms. This study will be of value to biomedical researchers by allowing them to correlate text mining approaches to specific biomedical application areas. Implications for future research are also discussed. Design/methodology/approach The review was conducted following the principles of the Kitchenham method. A number of research questions were first formulated, followed by the definition of the search strategy. The papers were then selected based on a list of assessment criteria. Each of the papers were analyzed and information relevant to the research questions were extracted. Findings It was found that researchers have mostly harnessed data sources such as electronic health records, biomedical literature, social media and health-related forums. The most common text mining technique was natural language processing using tools such as MetaMap and Unstructured Information Management Architecture, alongside the use of medical terminologies such as Unified Medical Language System. The main application area was the detection of adverse drug events. Challenges identified included the need to deal with huge amounts of text, the heterogeneity of the different data sources, the duality of meaning of words in biomedical text and the amount of noise introduced mainly from social media and health-related forums. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, other reviews in this area have focused on either specific techniques, specific application areas or specific data sources. The results of this review will help researchers to correlate most relevant and recent advances in text mining approaches to specific biomedical application areas by providing an up-to-date and holistic view of work done in this research area. The use of emerging text mining techniques has great potential to spur the development of innovative applications, thus considerably impacting on the advancement of biomedical research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document