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Category: Project

Description: The positive psychology movement has led to a renaissance of qualities like morality, character, and virtue. However, it has not effectively integrated them into contemporary personality research. Models like Peterson and Seligman's VIA classification exist outside of standard trait hierarchies, such as the Big Five. As such, their place within the field of personality psychology is unclear. This marginalization is striking, considering the attention their handbook has garnered since its introduction to the literature. These qualities matter to researchers and laypersons alike, and almost everybody wants to become wiser, more honest, or more compassionate. This project is an effort to help reintegrate character strengths–one of the major topics of positive psychology–into the canon of modern personality research. To this end, we present four studies that address different problems and open questions about character strengths using the psycho-lexical approach–one of the most influential personality paradigms. In doing so, we hope to contribute to giving character strengths and the field of positive psychology the credibility they deserve and build up a strong framework for enabling corresponding personality development.