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A dynamic approach to psychological strength development and intervention. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(2), 106-118
The Journal of Positive Psychology
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Many practitioners working with clients from a strengths perspective largely rely on ad hoc interventions and employ a simplistic ‘identify and use’ approach. In this article, we suggest that clients can extract greater benefits when practitioners adopt more sophisticated approaches to strengths intervention. We introduce an alternative approach that we call ‘strengths development’. This approach is distinguished by the view that strengths are not fixed traits across settings and time (the dominant, contemporary approach to personality). Instead, we adopt dynamic, within-person approaches from personality science to research, assessment, and interventions on strengths. Specifically, strengths are highly contextual phenomena that emerge in distinctive patterns alongside particular goals, interests, values, and situational factors. Strengths are potentials for excellence that can be cultivated through enhanced awareness, accessibility, and effort. Finally, we outline potential psychological risks associated with the strengths perspective that are worthy of explicit discussion with clients.
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... As seen above, character strengths, virtues, and values are interconnected structures. In short, values combine character strengths and virtues (Biswas-Diener et al., 2011). It is known that character strengths and virtues positively impact individuals' lives and reduce negative experiences (Kabakçı, 2016). ...
... When the literature is reviewed, it is observed that social values are studied in many fields of science, including primarily the psychology of religion (Doğan, 2018;Tanrıverdi & Ulu, 2018), sociology (Altun, 2015;Eraslan & Erdoğan, 2015), philosophy (Asar et al., 2020;Sarıkaya, 2022), social work (Küçükşen & Budak, 2017), primary education (Elbir & Bağcı, 2013), educational sciences (Güçlü, 2015;Kayır, 2011;Selvitopu et al, 2015;Sesli & Başaran, 2016), health sciences (Üçüncü & Özada-Nazımi, 2022), and social studies (Şimşek, 2012). When research conducted in the field of psychological counseling and guidance is examined, it is generally observed that the topic of values is shaped around the concepts of character strengths and virtues, which are primarily concepts of positive psychology (Biswas-Diener et al., 2011;Kabakçı, 2016;Neto & Marujo, 2013;Park & Peterson, 2004;Park & Peterson, 2008;Peterson & Seligman, 2004;Proctor, 2013). ...
... Buckingham and Clifton (2001) define strength as an individual's consistent, almost-perfect performance in a specific activity. Strengths develop through unique patterns influenced by factors such as goals, interests and situational factors and have the potential to create better performance by increasing awareness, accessibility and effort (Biswas-Diener et al., 2011). Therefore, for an activity to be considered a strength, one must be able to perform it consistently, making it a predictable aspect of their performance (Buckingham, 2007(Buckingham, , 2022Louis, 2012). ...
Orientation: The lack of skills, such as communication and teamwork among graduates, is a major concern for employers. Graduates should prioritise developing skills in demand for the evolving job market.Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the impressions of graduates regarding the skills they need to enter the job market and to develop and present a strength-based skills training programme for graduates in the South African labour market.Motivation for the study: Graduates can be equipped through a strength-based approach, which could assist them in applying their strengths to find employment in the South African labour market.Research design/approach and method: A qualitative research approach with a social constructivism paradigm was used. The participants were unemployed graduates, with a sample size of N = 10. Data was collected by using qualitative surveys captured on the QuestionPro platform. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.Main findings: The findings highlight the challenges faced by unemployed graduates. The participants reported feeling empowered by the training programme, helping them recognise and utilise their skills and strengths.Practical/managerial implications: The study highlighted that a strength-based training program for unemployed graduates could enhance the skills necessary for employment, such as self-awareness and emotional intelligence. A comprehensive understanding of the barriers to decent work is crucial for developing interventions to equip graduates for the labour market.Contribution/value-add: This research provides a basis for training and developing unemployed graduates from a strength-based perspective.
... Most other strengths-based approaches rely on cognitive efforts to identify strengths, with the aim of shifting emotional states. This mental work of identifying (and employing) strengths is generally not a spontaneous process (Biswas-Diener, Kashdan, & Minhas, 2011;Jones-Smith, 2016;Macaskill & Denovan, 2014;Rashid, 2014) and can take some time. This is particularly the case if a specific area of life has been especially difficult in the past (Jones-Smith, 2016). ...
Life Code Matrix™ (LCM) is a strengths-based practice presently used by some counsellors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. It is unique in its intentional use of the senses to identify strengths. This paper investigates the role of LCM in accessing individual strengths and improving personal relationships. It presents the results of research undertaken using a narrative approach that was designed to provide an independent evaluation of the use of LCM in practice. Fifteen adults were interviewed before and after completing the LCM process. Results indicate that most participants were easily able to identify strengths, which led to improved personal relationships. A striking finding was that many participants experienced a sense of ease in relationships that had formerly been problematic. The authors discuss these promising findings, highlighting the implications of both LCM and other contemporary sensory approaches for future counselling practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
... When the literature is reviewed, it is observed that social values are studied in many fields of science, including primarily the psychology of religion (Doğan, 2018;Tanrıverdi & Ulu, 2018), sociology (Altun, 2015;Eraslan & Erdoğan, 2015), philosophy (Asar et al., 2020;Sarıkaya, 2022), social work (Küçükşen & Budak, 2017), primary education (Elbir & Bağcı, 2013), educational sciences (Güçlü, 2015;Kayır, 2011;Selvitopu et al, 2015;Sesli & Başaran, 2016), health sciences (Üçüncü & Özada-Nazımi, 2022), and social studies (Şimşek, 2012). When research conducted in the field of psychological counseling and guidance is examined, it is generally observed that the topic of values is shaped around the concepts of character strengths and virtues, which are primarily concepts of positive psychology (Biswas-Diener et al., 2011;Kabakçı, 2016;Neto & Marujo, 2013;Park & Peterson, 2004;Park & Peterson, 2008;Peterson & Seligman, 2004;Proctor, 2013). ...
Career decision‐making self‐efficacy (CDMSE) is an important resource that can reduce the uncertainty that career starters face when transitioning from education to work. However, scant knowledge is available on how CDMSE can be enhanced through character strengths interventions. In this project, an online strengths intervention was developed to help career starters increase their CDMSE by identifying, exploring, appreciating, and using their happiness strengths (curiosity, gratitude, hope, love, and zest). A field experiment was conducted with 55 career starters in the Netherlands who were randomly assigned to an online three‐week intervention ( N = 23) or a wait‐list control group ( N = 32). Using a pretest‐posttest design, it was found that the intervention positively influenced participants’ CDMSE, particularly their self‐appraisal and problem‐solving levels. Therefore, activating happiness strengths in an online strengths intervention might be used as a brief and effective tool to improve CDMSE (self‐appraisal and problem‐solving) among career starters.
In this article, I will explore how to utilize character strengths in Finnish language learning. This study relies on VIA strengths inventory (Peterson & Seligman 2004). I will examine which character strengths adult Finnish learners utilize and how character strengths are related to learning Finnish, as well as participants’ beliefs regarding character strength intervention. The data of this qualitative study consist of an online questionnaire (n=32), individual and group info meetings online (n=21), character strengths intervention (n=8) and final interviews (n=4). The data were analyzed using content analysis. The results indicate that while some strengths are easily applicable to learning Finnish, others prove challenging to employ in language learning. Furthermore, the findings suggest that while participants found the character strength exercise interesting and enlightening, they expressed a desire for examples demonstrating the application of strengths, along with guidance on identifying and utilizing them.
Although the attention for neurodiversity in human resource management (HRM) is growing, neurodivergent individuals are still primarily supported from a deficit‐oriented paradigm, which points towards individuals' deviation from neurotypical norms. Following the HRM process model, our study explored to what extent a strengths‐based HRM approach to the identification, use, and development of strengths of neurodivergent groups is intended, implemented, and perceived in organizations. Thirty participants were interviewed, including HRM professionals ( n = 15), supervisors of neurodivergent employees ( n = 4), and neurodivergent employees ( n = 11). Our findings show that there is significant potential in embracing the strengths‐based approach to promote neurodiversity‐inclusion, for instance with the use of job crafting practices or (awareness) training to promote strengths use. Still, the acknowledgement of neurodivergent individuals' strengths in the workplace depends on the integration of the strengths‐based approach into a supportive framework of HR practices related to strengths identification, use, and development. Here, particular attention should be dedicated to strengths development for neurodivergent employees (e.g., optimally balancing strengths use). By adopting the strengths‐based HRM approach to neurodiversity as a means of challenging the ableist norms of organizations, we add to the HRM literature by contributing to the discussion on how both research and organizations can optimally support an increasingly diverse workforce by focusing on individual strengths.
Well-being therapy (WBT) is a short-term psychotherapeutic strategy, based on the technique of self-observation via the use of a structured diary and the guide of a therapist, with the goal of increasing psychological well-being, thus reaching euthymia and a balance among psychic forces. WBT showed to be suitable for application in residual symptoms of unipolar and bipolar depression, since the sequential combination with cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) led to a decrease in the relapse rate of recurrent depression. WBT also showed clinical utility in the treatment of cyclothymia, which represents one of the stages of bipolar disorder. Further, WBT seems to have efficacy in treatment-resistant depression and in case of withdrawal syndromes (in particular the so-called persistent post-withdrawal disorder) following antidepressant decrease, switch or discontinuation. In brief, WBT is a rather new but promising therapeutic strategy in the management of unipolar and bipolar depression. This chapter offers an overview of WBT possible applications.
Izzat is closely linked to the social quality of women’s lives in South Asia. It has been translated as honor in the English language. This simplistic translation masks the notions of morality shaped by the Enlightenment project. It is very often that Izzat is used as a conceptual category used for the social control of women. In this chapter, authors undertake a newer analysis of the concept of Izzat from the point of view of Positive Psychology. Our basic argument is Izzat cannot be applied to an atomistic woman, separating her existence from the community. The persistence woman undertakes to protect Izzat, despite class and religious differences, could be understood only when communitarian notions are examined from the point of view of positive psychology. Authors bring the ideas of courage and resilience from positive psychology to show the centrality of Izzat in social quality. The idea of Izzat is strongly linked to the protection of communitarian well-being than individual well-being. This is where gender as a social construct needs to be reinterpreted to bring out the positive psychological elements in the concept of Izzat.
Three experience-sampling studies explored the distributions of Big-Five-relevant states (behavior) across 2 to 3 weeks of everyday life. Within-person variability was high, such that the typical individual regularly and routinely manifested nearly all levels of all traits in his or her everyday behavior. Second, individual differences in central tendencies of behavioral distributions were almost perfectly stable. Third, amount of behavioral variability (and skew and kurtosis) were revealed as stable individual differences. Finally, amount of within-person variability in extraversion was shown to reflect individual differences in reactivity to extraversion-relevant situational cues. Thus, decontextualized and noncontingent Big-Five content is highly useful for descriptions of individuals' density distributions as wholes. Simultaneously, contextualized and contingent personality units (e.g., conditional traits, goals) are needed for describing the considerable within-person variation.
A workable vision of scientific practice has proven to be an elusive, if laudable, goal for professional psychology. The field cannot be faulted for failing to seek scientific wisdom, but it has been slow to integrate that wisdom fully with the wisdom of practice. This has proven to be a major oversight for, despite psychology's long if the standing commitment to science, practitioners are unlikely to think scientifically methods and products of science are described in ways that make it impossible to do so. Unfortunately, the rhetoric of science too often has done just that: So focused has it been on the problem of distinguishing good science from bad that it has inadvertently defeated any hope of a practical science developing in our field. We offer one remedy for this situation: This book is about scientific thinking for the professional psychologist. Specifically, it is a primer on the application of scientific logic to professional practice. We argue that the professional needs a more straightforward and realistic scientific identity than heretofore has been available. The professional consciously must become a local clinical scientist, bringing all the power of scientific thought to the specifics of the clinical situation. Contrary to forces in psychology that promote uncritical acceptance of science as given by academic researchers or, alternatively, that encourage criticism and ultimate disregard of the scientific endeavor, we call for a redoubling of efforts to incorporate scientific thought into practical professional inquiry.
The time is now ripe to build on traditional leadership development by giving greater attention to studying leadership strengths. Of particular consideration in this chapter is the question: How can individuals best use their leadership strengths to engage followers and stakeholders in order to achieve organizational or community objectives? To answer this, we will first step back and ask what leaders are required to do and then consider whether there are particular leadership strengths. Our chapter is informed by research that underpins the development of the Inspirational Leadership Tool, sponsored by Britain's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). In one of the largest known studies of followership, they asked 568 followers in the UK workplace, "What would inspire you to follow someone?" In this chapter, we review some of the work using the Inspirational Leadership Tool, as well as exploring more broadly the topic of leadership strengths.
This research sought to integrate C. S. Dweck and E. L. Leggett's (1988) model with attribution theory. Three studies tested the hypothesis that theories of intelligence-the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) versus fixed (entity theory)-would predict (and create) effort versus ability attributions, which would then mediate mastery-oriented coping. Study 1 revealed that, when given negative feedback, incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to attribute to effort. Studies 2 and 3 showed that incremental theorists were more likely than entity theorists to take remedial action if performance was unsatisfactory. Study 3, in which an entity or incremental theory was induced, showed that incremental theorists' remedial action was mediated by their effort attributions. These results suggest that implicit theories create the meaning framework in which attributions occur and are important for understanding motivation.
The literature on subjective well-being (SWB), including happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect, is reviewed in three areas: measurement, causal factors, and theory. Psychometric data on single-item and multi-item subjective well-being scales are presented, and the measures are compared. Measuring various components of subjective well-being is discussed. In terms of causal influences, research findings on the demographic correlates of SWB are evaluated, as well as the findings on other influences such as health, social contact, activity, and personality. A number of theoretical approaches to happiness are presented and discussed: telic theories, associationistic models, activity theories, judgment approaches, and top-down versus bottom-up conceptions.
Points to Be Mindful OfHappiness, Healing, Enhancement