No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Personality Strengths in Romantic relationships: Measuring Perceptions of Benefits and Costs and Their Impact on Personal and Relational Well-Being
Abstract
Three studies using samples of people in romantic relationships were conducted to create a new individual difference measure of partner strengths in couples. The 2 perceptions of partner strengths included (1) appreciation of their use and effectiveness and (2) recognition of costs associated with their use. Factor analyses supported 2-factors and we found that greater appreciation of partner strengths predicted greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, investment, intimacy, self-expansion, and support for goal pursuit; recognizing significant costs with partner strengths was inversely related to several outcomes. Using a 1-week daily diary, we found that appreciation of partner strength use and recognition of costs associated with these strengths predicted daily relationship satisfaction and whether basic psychological needs were met within the relationship. The explanatory power of partner strength perceptions could not be explained by the actual character strengths or Big Five personality traits of partners, support for positive self-disclosures (capitalization), or gratitude for relationship partners. Finally, we found that the relational consequences of partner strength perceptions were not just "in the head" of the perceiver-influencing partner relational outcomes. This research program provides evidence for the use of a new measure of how strengths are perceived to better understand romantic couples and aspirational targets in clinical interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record
... A study by Kashdan et al. (2018) found that greater appreciation of a partner's strengths predicted greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, and investment. There was also greater perceived support for both promotion and prevention goals and greater sense of self-expansion or growth from interactions with one's partner. ...
... There was also greater perceived support for both promotion and prevention goals and greater sense of self-expansion or growth from interactions with one's partner. When we appreciate our partner's strengths, we are more likely to recognize and use our own strengths more often (Kashdan et al., 2018). When our romantic partners are appreciative of our strengths, we tend to experience greater satisfaction in our relationship, greater use of our strengths, and more positive interactions. ...
... When our romantic partners are appreciative of our strengths, we tend to experience greater satisfaction in our relationship, greater use of our strengths, and more positive interactions. While Kashdan et al. (2018) focused on romantic partnerships, close friendships can benefit from the appreciation of our own strengths, as well as our friend's strengths. Incorporating Character Strengths, a foundational piece of positive psychology, into our lives and our friendships is a critical aspect of our own well-being and may help us foster more meaningful connections with each other. ...
Research has long shown the benefits of social connection for individual well-being. Positive Psychology offers several theories for fostering social connection and yet, throughout our lives we aren’t formally taught how to sustain connections, particularly our cherished friendships. Once you form a friendship, how do you make it last? In this paper, we examine friendship through existing literature and qualitative research leveraging exemplar methodology. Because a pursuit of well-being often includes a pursuit of friendship, we offer research-supported, real-world strategies for maintaining and strengthening friendships in adulthood.
... Said another way, this framework of character strengths, and the viewpoint that these 24 strengths are capacities that can be grown and nurtured, is finding resonance across the spectrum of humanity (Niemiec 2018;Niemiec and Pearce 2021;Peterson and Seligman 2004). One of the central findings in the character strengths literature is the importance of appreciating the character strengths in others; research has shown that dyads who recognize and appreciate the character strengths of their partner have higher relationship satisfaction, commitment to one another, and psychological needs met (Kashdan et al. 2018). Similarly, multiple studies have demonstrated that the identification of character strengths in others brings benefits across various contexts, including education (Quinlan et al. 2019), work/organizations (Ghielen et al. 2017), coaching (van Zyl et al. 2020), families (Waters 2020), disability , psychotherapy (Rashid and Seligman 2018), university (Bu and Duan 2018), and parenting (Waters and Sun 2016). ...
... A character strength beatitude is a way of being that is authentic to the person and offers them an avenue to foster goodness. The beatitude framing sets up an opportunity for appreciation of the strength in the person, and character strengths appreciation in others has revealed a number of well-being benefits (Kashdan et al. 2018). Implied in these character strengths beatitudes is an appreciation for the balanced or optimal (i.e., good and positive) use of the character strength. ...
... Enliven appreciation for others. As the character strengths beatitudes are framed in an other-oriented way, individuals have a straightforward opportunity to recognize and appreciate the character strengths of others (Kashdan et al. 2018). For example, the blessed quality of perspective ("Blessed are the wise: for they provide humanity clarity within chaos") becomes clear, especially when one identifies and reflects on a wise and supportive person in one's life. ...
A beatitude is a blessing. It is a form of appreciation that can be directed toward others or oneself. Theologically speaking, some frame the original beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew as pertaining to “spiritual happiness”, and recent scholars have offered a compelling argument that they are a call to flourishing. The focus here involves the creation and description of 24 blessings, or beatitudes, using the lens of one of the foundational and most researched areas in the sciences of flourishing, well-being, and positive psychology, which is the science of character strengths. Recent research has framed the 24 universal character strengths as spiritual strengths, hence particularly aligned for secular and nonsecular contexts of spiritual blessings. Each of the 24 character strengths was created into a blessing using the structure of the original beatitudes—with an opening description of the personal quality or attribute that is blessed and a follow-up outcome or core benefit that arises from the expression of that quality. In this way, these character strength beatitudes or character strength blessings offer an opportunity to appreciate the best positive qualities of others. These blessings are framed as primarily a mechanism of appreciating the character strengths of others, resting theoretically in both the grounding path and the sanctification path, the two types of integration of character strengths and spirituality that researchers have proposed. They are discussed, secondarily, as applied to the individual, for self-understanding, insight, and growth. These two purposes are relevant to the deepening of the spiritual journey, providing support as individuals pursue meaning in life and/or the sacred as they go deeper within themselves, up and beyond themselves, and sideways and interconnected to others. Practical applications, based in science, are discussed and point to avenues by which these character strengths beatitudes might both foster the appreciating of others’ strengths and support one’s own spiritual happiness, spiritual coping, and spiritual growth.
... Character strengths and virtues are essential to flourishing in romantic relationships (Fowers, 1998;Pawelski & Pawelski, 2018). In one empirical study, researchers found through a one-week daily dairy intervention, that partners who more readily recognized and celebrated the strengths of their significant others experienced greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, and support for goals (Kashdan et al., 2017). Additionally, they found the opposite was true: when partners noted their significant other' strengths through a deficit lens (e.g., "Your sense of humor is annoying" or "Your kindness makes you weak"), this trend was negatively related. ...
... Thus, appreciating others can build towards greater appreciation overall. And, as noted earlier, Kashdan et al. (2017) found that character strengths appreciation in marriage relationships was associated with higher relationship commitment and satisfaction. ...
... This can be done in one-on-one interactions and in small groups. Kashdan, et al. (2017) Seligman (2002) Relationships ( Lavy, et al. (2014) In this research, Lavy et al., (2014) found that individuals who wrote love letters had increased positive affect and decreased positive affect the following day. Thus, asking teens to write a letter to a loved one may help to improve positive mood. ...
Research has shown the benefits of religion and spirituality to an individual’s well-being. And yet, over the last several decades, the Catholic Church has seen a decline in affiliated members, especially amongst adolescents. Furthermore, this same population of adolescents has experienced exponential increases in anxiety, depression, and suicide rates, which begs the question: how must the Church respond? This paper examines this decline in religious affiliation and decrease in adolescent well-being, looking specifically towards character strengths and virtue for remedies. Finally, using the new science of positive psychology, this paper will propose that holiness is found through living the virtuous life, which ultimately leads to a life of fulfillment.
... En el ámbito interpersonal, el uso de las fortalezas del carácter ha presentado asociación positiva con satisfacción con la pareja y negativa con idealización de la pareja solamente en hombres (Lavy et al., 2014a). De igual modo, la apreciación del uso de las fortalezas del carácter de la pareja y el reconocimiento de los costos relacionados a esas fortalezas, se asociaron a relaciones románticas saludables y bienestar general (Kashdan et al., 2017). Finalmente, Lavy et al. ...
... Strengths Questionnaire PSQ (Kashdan et al., 2017) Presenta 9 ítems agrupados en dos escalas: apreciación de fortalezas del carácter y costo percibido. Su aplicación comienza solicitando a los participantes a leer una descripción de cada fortaleza y se solicita que elijan aquellas que mejor correspondan a su pareja, seguido de la elección de la fortaleza más distintiva y la descripción de una situación reciente en donde se haya usado la fortaleza. ...
... Posteriormente, se contestan los ítems mediante una escala de medición tipo Likert de siete opciones de respuestas, desde nunca a frecuentemente. Kashdan et al. (2017) reportó adecuados valores de consistencia interna medidos con el alfa de Cronbach en tres muestras en la escala de apreciación (rango de .82 a .91) y costo percibido (rango de .75 a .85), ...
Good character is a principal area in Positive Psychology. The current thesis assesses character strengths with mixed method: quantitative though factor analysis and qualitative using content analysis. Main purpose is evaluate and analyze the character strengths factors in participants from Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay to identify whether international findings are replicated; and verify replication in each country independently. A non probabilistic intentional sample was used: 854 university students (273 Ecuadorians, 277 Peruvians and 304 Paraguayan). Participants completed Inventario de Virtudes y Fortalezas del Carácter IVyF (Cosentino & Castro Solano, 2012) and Protocolo de Cualidades Positivas (Castro Solano & Cosentino, 2013). Main results show three character strengths factors: moderation, progress and fraternity. Secondly, this three factor model is the most parsimonious and replicable despite some differences. Finally, dimensional structure has intercultural differences because each countries have specific relations. Main conclusion show three factors of character strengths and intercultural differences in dimensional structure of each country. Data has limitations: used sample could not be an average citizen of each culture and countries were considered as national culture. Future studies should research intracultural differences in character strengths, identify causes of intercultural differences in each population and analyze character strengths in others Latin-American countries.
... Despite its benefits, much of the research and theoretical literature focuses more on the factors harming marriage than on what causes it to succeed (Fincham & Beach, 2010;Maisel & Gable, 2009;Skerrett & Fergus, 2015). In recent years, however, there has been a shift in this trend, with the publication of more and more studies concentrating on the positive elements of romantic relationships (Boiman-Meshita & Littman-Ovadia, 2020; Kashdan et al. 2018;Lavy et al. 2014;Maisel & Gable, 2009). ...
... Since its initial use, this three-component model has been replicated in numerous other samples (Duan & Bu, 2017;McGrath et al. 2017). Using these three higher-order factors instead of the 24 specific strengths, which has become more and more accepted in recent years (Cheng et al. 2020;Kashdan et al. 2018;Li et al. 2017), allows to cut down the number of statistical analyses, thus reducing the risk of errors. Consequently, these three factors were also used in the present study. ...
... Despite theoretical connections between the strengths factors and marital quality, only little empirical support has been provided. An exception is the study by Kashdan et al. (2018), which examined participants' perceptions of the benefits and costs of their romantic partner's strengths, and their associations with the quality of the relationship. In this study, participants' strengths factors were treated as covariates, and it found that both appreciation and perceived cost of a partner's strengths are correlated with several relationship outcomes, beyond the partner's strengths factors. ...
Numerous studies examined the association between character strengths—positive traits that comprise a good personality—and satisfaction with different aspects of life. However, few studies explored the connection between character strengths and marital satisfaction. The present study, conducted on a sample of 177 married couples, aims to examine this connection. Given the findings of previous studies, showing that both spouses’ personality traits contribute to relationship quality, we expect to find a connection between the spouses’ strengths and their marital quality. Using actor-partner interdependence model analyses, we examined the effects of three strengths factors (caring, self-control, and inquisitiveness) of both the individual and the partner on marital quality, evaluated by indices measuring marital satisfaction, intimacy, and burnout. Our findings revealed that the individual’s three strengths factors were related to all of his or her marital quality indices (actor effects). Moreover, women’s caring, inquisitiveness and self-control factors were associated with men’s marital quality, and men’s inquisitiveness and self-control factors were associated with women’s marital quality (partner effects). Our findings join the efforts of previous studies to understand the association between character strengths and the various elements of mental well-being, especially romantic relationships.
... These two refractions suggest that character strengths function as psychological connective tissues, engaging who-we-are with what-we-do so as to produce fulfilments. Findings showing associations between character strengths and engagement in jobs Bakker et al., 2019), classrooms Peterson, 2008, 2009;Wagner and Ruch, 2015), and relationships (Veldorale-Brogan et al., 2010;Guo et al., 2015;Kashdan et al., 2017) support this insight. ...
... And Waters and colleagues have found that strengths-based parenting has a positive effect on child academic achievement, stress coping, and life satisfaction (Waters, 2015a,b;Waters et al., 2019). Kashdan et al. (2017) studied a community sample of couples living together in a romantic relationship for at least 6 months and found that relationships were stronger along a number of dimensions when partners recognized and appreciated character strengths in one another. And, the role of character strengths in child rearing is further highlighted by findings that parental well-being is associated with improved child outcomes (e.g., Dumas and Wekerle, 1995;Leung and Slep, 2006) and that character strengths are positively associated with well-being. ...
A model on the role of character strengths in individual, collective, and species success is proffered. It is derived from viewing character strengths from a species perspective as opposed to one of individual differences/personality psychology. The history of the VIA initiative on character science is overviewed, and results to date are summarized in terms of promoting well-being, helping to accomplish aspirational intentions, and allowing the greater good of the collective to grow. “The character strengths response” is described as the response capacities that character strengths may enable for helping us fulfill the human promise of surviving, thriving, and successfully creating a next-generation so that individuals and the collective flourish while also living in harmonious balance with other species. An argument is presented that there is an urgent need for advancing population-wide psychological maturity to be better prepared to navigate the difficult decisions that accompany growing technological powers, and that the character strengths response warrants special attention of research funding to accomplish this imperative.
... These findings have important implications and suggest several directions for future research. First, these studies join a growing body of literature that highlights the benefits of gratitude (Algoe et al., 2010;Hill & Allemand, 2011;Kashdan et al., 2018). In particular, contemporary theory (Algoe et al., 2008;McCullough et al., 2001) and research (A. ...
... Indeed, practitioners have already begun to incorporate gratitude into several therapeutic techniques (Kerr et al., 2015;Seligman et al., 2005). Although the benefits of these interventions may be due to numerous factors, such as increased relationship connection (Algoe et al., 2010;Kashdan et al., 2018), they may be at least partially due to increased SCS and sexual satisfaction. ...
Maintaining sexual satisfaction is a critical, yet challenging, aspect of most romantic relationships. Although prior research has established that sexual communal strength (SCS)—i.e., the extent to which people are motivated to be responsive to their partner’s sexual needs—benefits romantic relationships, research has yet to identify factors that promote SCS. We predicted that gratitude would increase SCS because gratitude motivates partners to maintain close relationships. These predictions were supported in three studies with cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods. Specifically, experiencing and receiving expressions of gratitude were associated with greater SCS. These studies are the first to investigate the benefits of gratitude in the sexual domain and identify factors that promote SCS. Together, these results have important implications for relationship and sexual satisfaction in romantic relationships.
... The overuse of some of the 24 character strengths has been given more attention than others as reflected in studies on leadership (Antonakis, House, & Simonton, 2017), humor (Bitterly, Brooks, & Schweitzer, 2017), and creativity (Clark & James, 1999), in particular. Research on couples who perceive their partner is overusing their character strengths is associated with negative variables such as relationship dissatisfaction (Kashdan et al., 2018). ...
... Research has pointed to the benefits of strengths-spotting, for example in the education setting, positive student outcomes that were explained by teachers' strengths-spotting of students included classroom engagement, needs satisfaction, and positive affect (Quinlan, Vella-Brodrick, Gray, & Swain, 2018). In addition, couples who spotted the strengths of their partner (and expressed appreciation for those strengths) had greater relationship satisfaction, needs satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and relationship commitment (Kashdan et al., 2018). Indeed, placing attention on others through strengths-spotting is not only a staple of balanced work in the practice of character strengths, it is often the first step in helping clients get comfortable with the language of character strengths and learning strengths fluency (Niemiec, 2018). ...
The science of well-being has catalyzed a tremendous amount of research with no area more robust in application and impact than the science of character strengths. As the empirical links between character strengths and positive outcomes rapidly grow, the research around strength imbalances and the use of strengths with problems and conflicts is nascent. The use of character strengths in understanding and handling life suffering as well as emerging from it, is particularly aligned within second wave positive psychology. Areas of particular promise include strengths overuse and strengths underuse, alongside its companion of strengths optimal use. The latter is viewed as the golden mean of character strengths which refers to the expression of the right combination of strengths, to the right degree, and in the right situation. This paper discusses these constructs, maps out each across 24 universal character strengths, and deliberates on reasons for overuse and underuse. Practical strategies for counselors to support clients in the pursuit of optimal strengths use and the management of overuse and underuse are outlined. These include thoughts on wise interventions, the tempering effect, the towing effect, direct questioning, mindfulness, strengths-spotting, the use of a leading strengths model (aware-explore-apply), and eliciting feedback from others.
... In addition, the positive-activity model states that BPNS is considered as one of four mediating variables linking positive activities such as SU with wellbeing [29]. Consistent with this, empirical studies have found that SU correlates positively with BPNS [30][31][32]. Given that SU, BPNS, and work engagement are closely related, therefore, we hypothesized that BPNS may partly mediate the relationship between SU and work engagement. ...
... Our results also extend previous research to the educational workplace, suggesting SU plays a crucial role in BPNS in different contexts. Moreover, our findings reinforce those of previous studies showing that BPNS correlates positively with work engagement [29][30][31]. Therefore, our study argues that policy-making must focus on meeting teachers' BPNS by motivating them to incorporate their strengths professionally. ...
Work engagement is a core indicator that reflects the quality of teachers’ occupational lives and the development of students, but few studies have explored the connection between strengths use and work engagement of teachers and the mechanisms underlying this relationship. This paper aimed to investigate how the relation of strengths use with work engagement is affected by a teacher’s satisfaction of basic psychological needs. For this purpose, 648 teachers in China completed questionnaires. The results revealed that strengths use exhibited a positive correlation with work engagement and needs satisfaction. Furthermore, autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction mediated the effect of strengths use on work engagement for teachers. The results suggest that autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction serve as factors that mediate the effect of strengths use on work engagement. The significance and limitations of the study are discussed.
... The perceived recognition of signature strengths by others: That is, this hypothesis would suggest that enactment contributes to SWB primarily because significant others become aware of one's signature strengths, which could, for example, create a stronger sense of relationship between self and others. For instance, Kashdan et al. (2018) found that appreciation of partners' strengths predicted relationship satisfaction. c. ...
... c. The perceived valuing of signature strengths by one's school or workplace: Based on the study by Kashdan et al. (2018), it was hypothesized that recognition of one's strengths by others would not be enough to explain the relationship between signature strengths and SWB. It may also be the case that one must experience one's signature strengths as valuable, particularly in contexts where personal efficacy is important. ...
The study of character strengths stems from positive psychology’s quest to understand positive personality traits that foster positive functioning and flourishing. Signature strengths are character strengths that are considered particularly relevant to the identity of the individual. These have been related to subjective well-being (SWB) in both cross-sectional and intervention studies. However, contributors to this relationship remain unclear. The present study examined the following possible explanations for the relationship between signature strengths and SWB: the perceived ability to use signature strengths, recognition of signature strengths by others, and valuing of signature strengths by one’s school, workplace, and country. Also, existing approaches to identifying signature strengths do not accurately reflect the construct as it was originally conceived. To address these issues, this study used the Signature Strengths Survey (McGrath in Technical report: the VIA assessment suite for adults: development and initial evaluation, rev ed. VIA Institute on Character, Cincinnati, 2019), which was developed to address inadequacies in current measurement methods, allowing the respondent to set the number of signature strengths. In a sample of 2875 adults recruited online, results revealed that signature strengths being perceived as valued and recognized by others, rather than identification with and enactment of particular strengths, best predicted SWB. Results merit replication, but suggest that focus on signature strengths valued by others in one’s environment can be particularly contributory to SWB.
... Students can practice strength spotting as they read the weekly Torah portion, helping them engage more deeply with the text. Appreciating and recognizing strengths amongst staff, coworkers, and students can lead to increased relationship satisfaction (Kashdan, 2017), and relationships are the driving force of positive education and Jewish identity. ...
Jewish education has been a core value to the Jewish people throughout history and is essential to carry on Jewish tradition and values. Jewish education influences Jewish identity, engagement, and continuity. A decline in enrollment in non-Orthodox Jewish educational programs poses a real threat to the future of the Jewish community. Many young adults decide to stop participating in Jewish educational experiences after the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience at age 13 since students often fail to find meaning, positivity, and relevance in their Jewish educational experiences, which can influence their future engagement in Jewish life. Positive psychology and positive education can serve as a pathway to propel Jewish education, enabling students to find new meaning in Jewish values and tradition. Positive education infuses academics with a focus on character strengths and well-being and can lead to academic and personal flourishing. While many secular schools have embraced positive education, the vast majority of Jewish schools have yet to adopt this growing field. A positive Jewish education framework for implementation and recommendations for interventions can strengthen the future of Jewish education and help schools and students thrive in the 21st century.
... They also indicate signature strengths, overuse, underuse and optimal-use of character strengths that identifies whether or not strength-use is balanced (Freidlin, Littman-Ovadia, & Niemiec, 2017), which can serve as a starting point for coaching discussions. Furthermore, they are available for 360°assessments, whereby partners can identify individual's perceived strengths (Kashdan et al., 2018), which can be compared to the self-assessed character strengths. Also, the new assessment can identify weaknesses and measures of virtues, not only strengths (McGrath, 2017b). ...
Strengths approaches have grow in popularity over the past decade, with a profileration of writing, models and questionnaires used for strengths assessment and in coaching. These questionnaires include including VIA, Strengthscope and StrengthsFinder and Strengths Profile. The questionnaires have become a popular intervention for consultants, HR professionals and executive coaches for adding both personal development and coaching, to assisting with recruitment and selection. We will briefly review in the first section of this chapter three popular questionnaires, considering their development and constructs. In the second section we will explore positive psychology coaching as an intervention using questionnaires and strengths cards, before reviewing the research evidence and opportunities for future research.
... Appreciation is one of the main functions of character strengths and involves expressions to other people of how important or of value they are for their strengths expression -it is a valuing of who they are at their core (Niemiec, 2019b). Research has found that couples who recognize and appreciate the character strengths of their partner have higher relationship satisfaction, needs satisfaction, and relationship commitment (Kashdan et al., 2017). ...
Little attention has been given to the integral relationship between character strengths and spirituality (the search for or communing with the sacred to derive meaning and purpose). The science of character strengths has surged in recent years with
hundreds of studies, yet with minimal attention to spirituality or the literature therein. At the same time, the science of spirituality has steadily unfolded over the last few decades and has offered only occasional attention to select strengths of character (e.g., humility, love, forgiveness) or the universal typology of the VIA Classification of character strengths and virtues. In this exploration, we argue that there is a robust synergy of these sciences and practices revealing that spirituality is vitally concerned with promoting character strengths. At the same time, character strengths can enhance and deepen spiritual practices, rituals, and experiences. We elaborate on how character strengths and spirituality come together in the context of the psycho-spiritual journey toward wholeness. By wholeness, we are referring to a way of being in the world, which involves a
life-affirming view of oneself and the world, a capacity to see and approach life with breadth and depth and the ability to organize the life journey into a cohesive whole. We further discuss six levels by which spirituality can be integrated within the VIA
Classification, including a meta-perspective in which wholeness represents a meta-strength or superordinate virtue. We frame two pathways of integration: the grounding path, in which character strengths offer tangibility and thereby deepen and enhance
spirituality, and the sanctification path, in which spirituality elevates character strengths. Finally, we turn to research-based practices and examine how character strengths might facilitate and contribute to spiritual practices and, conversely, how spirituality might enhance character strength practices. Such multifaceted integration offers insight and wisdom to both areas of study and opens up new directions for psychospiritual research and practices to deepen and broaden our understanding of what it means to be human.
... Appreciation expressed toward one's partner has been associated with stronger relationships, higher marital satisfaction, and greater willingness to share concerns in the relationship (Algoe et al. 2010;. The recognition and appreciation of character strengths of one's partner is connected with higher commitment in relationships, higher relationship satisfaction, higher sexual satisfaction, and greater reporting of basic psychological needs being met (Kashdan et al. 2017). A spouse might say to their partner how much they value them for their curiosity in asking so many interesting questions at a dinner with friends and how they appreciate their partner's strength of fairness in including everyone in the conversation. ...
Life is a collection of moments, some light and pleasant, some dark and unpleasant, some neutral. Character strengths contribute to the full range of human experiences, influencing and creating positive opportunities while also helping us to endure the mundane and embrace and navigate the struggles. Some researchers have argued that thriving, which casts a wider net on the human experience than constructs such as flourishing or resilience, constitutes strong well-being and performance at times of both adversity and opportunity (Brown et al. 2017). With this and the many findings in the science of character in mind, six character strengths functions are theorized and then applied across time orientations, making the case for the integral role of character strengths in these matters of thriving. Three opportunity functions are offered, including priming in which character strengths prompt and prepare for strengths awareness and use; mindfulness in which character strengths serve in synergy with mindful awareness
of the present reality; and appreciation in which character strengths use expresses value for what has occurred. The three adversity functions include: buffering – character strengths use prevents problems; reappraisal – character strengths explain or reinterpret problems; and resilience – character strengths support the bounce-back from life setbacks. Several applications of these six functions for vocational and educational settings are explored.
... Some studies have found well-being to have an adaptive and contributory effect on positive youth outcomes (Park, 2004). This body of work has assisted in comprehending the relationships between youth well-being and personality strengths (Kashdan et al., 2018), positive youth development (Leman et al., 2017), and life satisfaction (Mohamed, D'Silva, Samah, Shafril, & Dahalan, 2018). ...
Youth well-being has become a phenomenon of interest to community youth workers. Despite the potential of youth well-being to promote positive youth outcome and strengthen community settings, the practice remains unfamiliar to many. Thus, this study used multidimensional constructs to measure youth well-being in Malaysia. The aims of this study were to (1) construct and validate a multidimensional measure of the Youth Well-Being Scale (YWS) and (2) scrutinize the psychometric and measurement properties of the YWS in Malaysian youths. A quantitative study was conducted to validate the 97-item YWS with a sample of 500 Malaysian youths. The YWS demonstrated adequate psychometric properties for 10 YWS dimensions in the exploratory factor analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the multidimensional constructs fit the YWS data. Participants confirmed that the validity and reliability of youth well-being take place at the intersection of personal, relational, and collective strengths. Going forward, the analysis of results offers a big picture of community ideals, needs, strength, as well as potential actions that could enhance personal, relational, and collective well-being of youth in Malaysia.
... In spite of abundant knowledge about preventing marital conflicts, understanding how to help couples have lasting and satisfying marriages, is still in the primary stages [2]. Researchers have assessed perceptions of benefits and costs of romantic relationships [3] and psychopathology involved in these relationships [4]. Almost all marriages and other couple relationships begin with high satisfaction [5]. ...
Introduction: Nowadays, marital satisfaction is not easily achieved. Therefore, helping couples have lasting and satisfying marriages is essential.
Objectives: This research examined the effectiveness of the integrated model of self-regulation-attachment couple therapy on the dimensions of marital satisfaction of insecure couples.
Materials and Methods: The research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and control group. The research sample was selected from the couples referring to the counseling centers of Khorramabad City, Iran. The couples that at least one of them had an insecure attachment style based on the Adult Attachment Inventory were selected using the purposive sampling method. Then the couples were randomly assigned to the experimental (11 couples) and control (11 couples) groups. Before performing the couple therapy program, the ENRICH questionnaire was administered to all couples as the pretest. Then the couples of the experimental group participated in a therapeutic program during the 8 weekly sessions, but the control group remained on the waiting list. After the completion of the therapeutic sessions, the couples of the two groups completed this questionnaire once again as the posttest. Finally, the obtained data of the two groups were analyzed by ANCOVA and MANCOVA.
Results: The results of ANCOVA indicated that self-regulation-attachment couple therapy was an effective treatment in increasing marital satisfaction. The results of MANCOVA also showed that this therapeutic program increased marital satisfaction based on the sexual relationship, marriage and children, and spiritual beliefs subscales.
Conclusion: Integrated model of self-regulation-attachment couple therapy could be an effective treatment for promoting the marital satisfaction of insecure couples.
... The honesty-humility domain of the HEXACO, in particular, models an individual's willingness to exploit others for personal gain and does so alongside five other interpersonally relevant domains of personality: emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. These qualities are consequential to the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of romantic relationships (Brunell et al., 2010;Holden, Zeigler-Hill, Pham, & Shackelford, 2014;Kashdan et al., 2018;Wurst et al., 2017), and may afford situational advantages within a romantic relationship (see De Vries, Tybur, Pollet, & van Vugt, 2016;Lukaszewski, Gurven, von Rueden, & Schmitt, 2017). For instance, honest individuals (i.e., those who score higher on honesty-humility) are more likely to cooperate in the absence of punishment (Hilbig, Zettler, & Heydasch, 2012; also see Zhao & Smillie, 2015), are less likely to defect in prisoner dilemma games when the risk of defection has been lowered and the benefits of defecting are more tempting (Zettler, Hilbig, & Heydasch, 2013), use fewer cost-inflicting mate retention strategies (Holden et al., 2014), and are less likely to have committed romantic or sexual infidelity (Hilbig, Moshagen, & Zettler, 2015). ...
Mate preference research often focuses on traits that indicate a romantic partner's personal worth (e.g., their physical attractiveness, resource potential) rather than their tendency to leverage that worth for mutual vs. zero-sum benefit (i.e., their trustworthiness). No one has assessed the contribution of trustworthiness to perceived mate value relative to other personality dimensions. Here we examined the desirability of a partner's trustworthiness relative to five other personality indicators of mate quality during initial partner selection. Participants (n = 918) ranked multivariate partner profiles constructed from the HEXACO model of personality (i.e., honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) and provided partner ratings for each trait. Using conjoint analysis, we found that honesty-humility influenced participants' ranking decisions substantially more than each other characteristic (all Cohen's ds > 0.62). This was true for both long- (i.e., committed) and short-term (i.e., purely sexual) partner evaluations, though honesty-humility was relatively more important for long- vs. short-term contexts. There were no sex differences. A different pattern, including sex differences, emerged for partner ratings. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the challenge of avoiding romantic interpersonal predation may have been a relatively stronger selection pressure during the evolution of human mate preference than has the challenge of identifying other valuable partner traits.
... Intervention discussed in peer-reviewed works Veldorale-Brogan et al. (2010) Turn Your Strengths Other-Oriented Direct one signature strength outward in a relationship to bring benefit to that person. Intervention extrapolated from an observational study Kashdan et al. (2018) Character Strengths Appreciation List three of one's partner's character strengths, an example for each, and convey appreciation to them -why they are valued for their strengths use. Intervention extrapolated from a theoretical concept Rempel et al. (2007) Character Strengths Genogram As one creates a standard family genogram, add three character strengths that describe each entry; look for patterns and discuss with family members. ...
What does it mean to be “strengths-based” or to be a “strengths-based practitioner?” These are diffuse areas that are generic and ill-defined. Part of the confusion arises from the customary default of practitioners and leaders across many cultures to label anything positive or complimentary as “strengths-based,” whether that be an approach, a theoretical orientation, an intervention, or a company. Additional muddle is created by many researchers and practitioners not making distinctions between very different categories of “strength” in human beings – strengths of character, of talent/ability, of interest/passion, of skill/competency, to name a few. To add clarity and unification across professions, we offer seven characteristics and a comprehensive definition for a character strengths-based practitioner. We center on the type of strength referred to as character strengths and explore six guiding principles for understanding character strengths (e.g., character is plural; character is being and doing) and their practical corollaries. Reflecting this foundation and based on character strengths research, our longstanding work with strengths, discussions with practitioners across the globe, and a practitioner survey asking about strength practices (N = 113), we point out several character strengths practices or approaches we describe as soaring (e.g., explore and encourage signature strengths; practice strengths-spotting), emerging (e.g., the integration of mindfulness and character strengths), or ripe with potential (e.g., phasic strengths; the tempering effect; the towing effect). We use the same framework for describing general research domains. Some areas of research in character strengths are soaring with more than 25 studies (e.g., workplace/organizations), some are emerging with a handful of studies (e.g., health/medicine), and others are ripe with potential that have none or few studies yet opportunity looms large for integrating character science (e.g., peace/conflict studies). Using this framework, we seek to advance the exchange and collaboration between researcher and practitioner, as well as to advance the science and practice of character strengths.
... The sample size was determined by funding constraints, and data were not analyzed before determining the sample size. This sample size is similar to several recently published dyadic daily diary studies (e.g., Auger, Menzies-Toman, & Lydon, 2017;Haak, Keller, & DeWall, 2017;Kashdan et al., 2018;Kindt, Vansteenkiste, Cano, & Goubert, 2017). ...
The current study used a dyadic daily diary design to examine the transmission of anger over daily interactions within romantic relationships. The results suggested that, when people feel angry in their relationships, they are more likely to engage in destructive behaviors toward their partners. In turn, the enactment of destructive behaviors tends to be perceived by their partners, which elicits partners’ felt anger. Hence, these findings suggest that anger can promote a negative interpersonal process through which anger spreads across partners and reinforces itself. Effects were moderated by agreeableness, but not relationship commitment.
... For mastery, they will engage in an exercise prompting them to remember a past success experience and to share it with another group member to increase participants' self-efficacy [28]. After the mastery exercise, participants will engage in a strength spotting exercise to enhance affiliation [29]. Participants will take turns in sharing the strengths they have spotted in their colleague based on previously shared success stories to demonstrate how even brief positive interactions can increase the feeling of belonging and positive affect [30]. ...
Background:
Employees dealing with job demands such as high workload and permeable work-life boundaries could benefit from bottom-up well-being strategies such as off-job crafting. We have developed a hybrid off-job crafting intervention to promote off-job crafting, a proactive pursuit to adjust one's off-job time activities to satisfy one's psychological needs. This hybrid intervention contains both on-site (two trainings) and online elements (smartphone app) to enhance employees' well-being and performance within different life domains.
Methods:
The study is designed as a randomized controlled trial with an intervention group and a waitlist control group. The study population will be Finnish knowledge workers. The intervention program focuses on six psychological needs (detachment, relaxation, autonomy, mastery, meaning, and affiliation) proposed by the DRAMMA model. The intervention will consist of the following components: 1) an on-site off-job crafting training, 2) an individual off-job crafting plan for the four-week intervention period, 3) Everydaily smartphone app usage, and 4) a training session for reflection. The study outcomes are assessed with online questionnaires once at baseline, weekly during the intervention period and twice after the intervention (two-week and six-week follow-up). Moreover, during the second training session, participants will participate in a process evaluation to shed light on the mechanisms that can affect the effectiveness of the intervention.
Discussion:
We expect that the intervention will stimulate off-job crafting behaviors, which may in turn increase well-being and performance in both non-work and work domains during and after the intervention (compared to baseline and to the control group). The intervention may provide employees with additional resources to deal with various stressors in life. Furthermore, this off-job crafting intervention could also offer performance benefits for the employers such as increased organizational citizenship behaviors among employees.
Trial registration:
The Netherlands Trial Register (NTR): NL8219, December 9, 2019. Registered retrospectively. https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/8219.
... Thus, this research introduces the possibility that LLs may be a predictor of relational satisfaction, adding it to an emerging list that in-satisfaction include (a) viewing one's partner's personality strengths as having significant costs (Kashdan et al., 2018), (b) incongruence of motives for being involved in the relationship (Hagemeyer et al., 2013), (c) hypermasculinity (Karakis & Levant, 2012;Lentz, 2017), and (d) inconsistent interpersonal behavior (Sadikaj et al., 2015), dominant behavior (Sadikaj, Moskowitz, & Zuroff, 2017), shyness (Luster et al., 2013), and depression (Li & Johnson, 2018) in one's partner. ...
Chapman identified and described Five Love Languages (LLs), principal value systems by which individuals communicate and anticipate expression of affection: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Although Chapman’s model has become embraced by laypeople and helping professionals, it remains relatively underresearched. In this exploratory study, multivariate clustering procedures were used to identify profiles of combinations of LLs (as measured by Chapman’s Love Languages Personal Profile for Couples) in 100 couples. Emphasis was given not only to men’s and women’s primary LLs but also to differences between men and women within each couple as quantified by mean differences and Cohen’s d effect sizes thereof across the combination of all five LLs. In comparing the clustering variable means of the final cluster solution, it was found that the four profiles matched well and varied in a statistically significant manner. The relationship between the four-cluster solution and couples’ reported levels of global relational satisfaction (as measured by the Revised Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale) also was assessed. Although no significant differences were found in the distress profiles across the four clusters (likely due to insufficient variability based on a majority nondistressed sample), results did suggest
a trend whereby couples were less likely to report distress the more their combination of LL preferences was congruent. This study makes several methodological contributions to an emerging literature on the LLs, and the results provide a foundation for further research, particularly on how Chapman’s model contributes to understanding the relationships between intimate relationships, self-development, and self-expansion.
... Expressing gratitude is a large contributor to the maintenance of close intimate bonds (Algoe, 2012;Kashdan et al., 2017), suggesting that it may reflect similar age-related processes that enhance well-being. Phenomena did not make explicit hypotheses about whether gratitude-well-being associations differ by age. ...
Gratitude has been described as an adaptive evolutionary mechanism that is relevant to healthy psychological and interpersonal outcomes. Questions remain as to whether the presence and benefits of gratitude are consistent from young adulthood to old age; prior research has yielded mixed evidence. We examined the magnitude and direction of age differences in gratitude in three samples (combined N = 31,206). We also examined whether gratitude was associated with greater/lesser well-being at different periods in the life course. We found that the experience of gratitude was greatest in older adults and least in middle aged and younger adults. Further, we found that the associations between gratitude and subjective well-being remained relatively constant across the lifespan. Findings are discussed from a developmental perspective.
Though gratitude research in organizational behavior (OB) is nascent, this emotion has a rich history in the social sciences. Research has shown gratitude to promote prosocial behaviors, encourage personal well-being, and foster interpersonal relationships. However, gratitude research has been siloed among these three outcomes of gratitude (moral, wellness, and relational). Similarly, past reviews of gratitude have focused on only one group of outcomes, one of its forms (trait, state, or expressed), or empirical findings without emphasis on the theoretical underpinnings. In contrast, this review recognizes that each type of gratitude, its functions, and outcomes are part of a single process model of gratitude. As such, in the current review we provide a comprehensive assessment of gratitude in the social sciences by distilling and organizing the literature per our process model of episodic gratitude. Then, we translate the insights for management scholars, highlighting possible differences and synergies between extant research and workplace gratitude thereby helping advance “gratitude science” in the workplace. In all, this review (a) examines definitions and operationalizations of gratitude and provides recommendations for organizational research; (b) proposes a process model of episodic workplace gratitude as a conceptual map to guide future OB research on gratitude; (c) reviews empirical gratitude research through the lens of our process model; and (d) discusses the current state of the literature, important differences for workplace gratitude, and future directions for organizational scholars.
The present study was inspired by Barron’s (1963) description of creative individuals as “occasionally crazier, yet adamantly saner” than the general population. As suggested by this description, we hypothesized that some individuals embody a pattern of both psychological vulnerabilities and resources and that this pattern is more likely to be present in artists than nonartists. We analyzed intra-individual patterns of psychological vulnerabilities (anxiety, depression, stress) and resources (psychological well-being, ego-resilience, hope) and identified distinct clusters of individuals, including those expected from the negative correlation between
resources and vulnerabilities (high vulnerabilities, low resources; low vulnerabilities, high
resources), and also a cluster including both moderately high vulnerabilities and resources. As
hypothesized, the cluster with both vulnerabilities and resources had more artists than non-artists.
Exploratory analyses showed that creative achievement is predicted by the interaction of high
vulnerabilities and resources and that this effect is significant beyond the predictive power of
openness to experience and age.
This paper provides a review of the theory and application for how to integrate positive psychology, specifically VIA character strength interventions, into the programming at The Food Project (TFP). TFP is an impactful community based non-profit organization in Southwest Baltimore that provides cooking, farming, and restaurant skills, job opportunities, sustainable food sources, and mentorship to the underserved youth in the area. All programs are facilitated at TFP’s community center. TFP is looking for ways to continue to build hope and resilience among its youth participants. Upon reviewing the positive psychology literature, we determined five specific evidence-based interventions that integrate VIA character strengths into the existing programming at TFP. Each intervention is intended to build resilience and cultivate hope for the youth participants and includes a measurement plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the new initiative.
The practice of memento mori– acting on the Latin phrase that translates to “remember we must die,” has the profound potential to wake us up and breathe more life into our lives. While focusing on the end of our days may sound more morbid than meaningful, the contemplation of death allows us to appreciate the scarcity of the very time we’re looking to make the most of. In a world consumed with expanding the length of our lives, cultivating a more intimate familiarity with death can help us expand the metaphoric width and depth of our lives as well. We make our lives wider when we fill them with vitality and gusto– expanding the breadth of the pleasurable experiences that life has to offer while blasting us out of our autopilot tendencies. We make our lives deeper when we infuse them with meaning and purpose– elevating ourselves out of empty or mundane existences into lives that feel like they matter. This capstone explores how the field of positive psychology, with its dialectical appreciation of the positive and negative phenomena in life, is uniquely poised to explore the traditionally taboo topic of death. With the heft of all its theory, research, and practice, existential positive psychology encourages us to courageously confront death to live with more meaning and vitality... to pursue lives truly worth living.
Living in today's complex social world can contribute to the development of a multi-faceted personal identity and to the risk of identity dispersion. This study focused on values, which are conceptualised as the core of one's personal identity. It aimed to explore the within-person value consistency across relational roles (i.e., relationships with parents, partners, and friends) and to analyse the association between value consistency, self-concept clarity, and basic psychological needs satisfaction. One hundred ninety-five Italian young adults (F = 85%; Mage = 26.65, SD = 3.83) participated in the study. They completed the Values in Context Questionnaire, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, and the satisfaction subscale from the Basic Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale. Findings showed high value consistencies across the relational roles. Specifically, consistency is higher when values as a partner and values as a friend are considered. Moreover, the relation between value consistency and basic psychological needs satisfaction was fully mediated by self-concept clarity. Limitations of the study, future research developments, and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Numerous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of character strengths-based interventions for fostering well-being. However, there are still several open questions. The present article discusses some of the most important questions. We review the current body of research and provide ideas and possible future directions on issues such as: Should interventions be generic or personalized? What strengths should be addressed in a strengths-based intervention? What is the role of signature strengths? Do strengths-based interventions change the level of character strengths? How can you justify strengths-based interventions? We conclude that increasing knowledge has not tempered but rather has heightened the initial high expectations on the important contribution of strengths-based interventions in research and practice, but still much work remains to be done.
Recent research has identified three virtues from the 24 strengths in the VIA Classification of Strengths and Virtues, labeled caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control. This article explored this model further. Study 1 demonstrated substantial congruence in three-factor loadings across 12 samples (total N = 1,082,230) despite substantial differences in methodology. Study 2 (N = 1719) provided support for the use of aggregate scores for the three virtues. Study 3 (N = 498) demonstrated substantial overlap between measures of personality and the virtues. We conclude these three are potentially essential components of a theory of virtue. They cannot be considered a sufficient model, which may be unattainable. We also note that treating virtue as an individual difference concept neglects key elements of our understanding of virtue as a social construct, and these more amorphous elements must be considered in developing an optimal model of virtue.
The VIA Classification characterizes six culturally defined virtues as latent variables underlying 24 character strengths. Factor analyses of measures based on the Classification usually suggest 4-5 factors that do not correspond well to traditional lists of virtues. This article describes the identification of a three-virtue model across multiple measures of strengths in four samples encompassing 1,070,549 cases. The general pattern involved a first component representing good character that split into two components reflecting Goodness and Inquisitiveness. The former divided further into components reflecting Caring and Self-Control. This pattern recurred in all data sets. The model consisting of Caring, Inquisitiveness, and Self-Control is proposed as a reliable latent structure for the VIA Classification strengths, an intuitive classification of traditional cultural virtues, and a framework for social efforts encouraging the development of virtue.
Close and caring relationships are undeniably linked to health and well-being at all stages in the life span. Yet the specific pathways through which close relationships promote optimal well-being are not well understood. In this article, we present a model of thriving through relationships to provide a theoretical foundation for identifying the specific interpersonal processes that underlie the effects of close relationships on thriving. This model highlights two life contexts through which people may potentially thrive (coping successfully with life’s adversities and actively pursuing life opportunities for growth and development), it proposes two relational support functions that are fundamental to the experience of thriving in each life context, and it identifies mediators through which relational support is likely to have long-term effects on thriving. This perspective highlights the need for researchers to take a new look at social support by conceptualizing it as an interpersonal process with a focus on thriving.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a vast field and widely used by many applied researchers in the social and behavioral sciences. Over the years, many software pack-ages for structural equation modeling have been developed, both free and commercial. However, perhaps the best state-of-the-art software packages in this field are still closed-source and/or commercial. The R package lavaan has been developed to provide applied researchers, teachers, and statisticians, a free, fully open-source, but commercial-quality package for latent variable modeling. This paper explains the aims behind the develop-ment of the package, gives an overview of its most important features, and provides some examples to illustrate how lavaan works in practice.
This article presents the integrative soul mates relationship development model, which provides the helping professionals with a conceptual map for couples’ relationship development from dating, to intimacy, to soul mating, and long-term flourishing. This model is informed by a holistic, a developmental, and a positive psychology conceptualization of the individual and the relationship. It integrates select concepts from narrative therapy, Gottman method, and Jungian analytic psychology. Two pictograms derived from 17th century alchemy are provided to facilitate the visual and metaphorical conceptualization of the model. The soul mates model applies to all individuals and couples interested in optimizing their relationship, regardless of marital status, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation. The model may be applied to counseling, therapy, and coaching interventions, as well as relationship education, research and measurement, courses in higher education, and couples’ workshops and retreats.
Although a great deal of attention has been paid to the role of people's own investment in promoting relationship commitment, less research has considered the possible role of the partner's investments. An experiment (Study 1) and two combined daily experience and longitudinal studies (Studies 2 and 3) documented that perceived investments from one partner motivate the other partner to further commit to the relationship. All three studies provided support for gratitude as a mechanism of this effect. These effects held even for individuals who were relatively less satisfied with their relationships. Together, these results suggest that people feel particularly grateful for partners who they perceive to have invested into the relationship, which, in turn, motivates them to further commit to the relationship. Implications for research and theory on gratitude and relationship commitment are discussed.
We propose that to some extent, people treat the resources, perspectives, and identities of close others as their own. This proposal is supported by allocation, attribution, response time, and memory experiments. Recently, we have applied this idea to deepening understanding of feeling “too close” (including too much of the other in the self leading to feeling controlled or a loss of identity), the effects of relationship loss (it is distressing to the extent that the former partner was included in the self, liberating to the extent that the former partner was preventing self-expansion), ingroup identification (including ingroup in the self), and the effect of outgroup friendships on outgroup attitudes (including outgroup member in the self entails including outgroup member's identity in the self).
The personal project is proposed as a new unit of analysis for the study of personality in its social, physical and temporal context. A sequential model of personal projects is proposed in which the major stages of project inception, planning, action, and termination are described in detail and related to dimensions of individual differences. A new methodology for assessing personal project content and structure is introduced, including techniques for assessing interproject impact and linkages with values and actions. The relevance of a projectanalytic approach to recent issues in environmental psychology is discussed. It is proposed that personal projects methodology might serve as a coupling device between the fields of personality and environmental psychology.
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.
a b s t r a c t Conscientious individuals tend to achieve more and have higher well-being. This has led to a view that conscientiousness is always positive for well-being. We hypothesize that conscientiousness could be detrimental to well-being when failure is experienced, such as when individuals become unemployed. In a 4-year longitudinal study of 9570 individuals interviewed yearly we show that the drop in an indi-vidual's life satisfaction following unemployment is significantly moderated by their conscientiousness. After 3 years of unemployment individuals high in conscientiousness (i.e. one standard deviation above the mean) experience a 120% higher decrease in life satisfaction than those at low levels. Thus the posi-tive relationship typically seen between conscientiousness and well-being is reversed: conscientiousness is therefore not always good for well-being.
Multilevel modeling is a technique that has numerous potential applications for social and personality psychology. To help realize this potential, this article provides an introduction to multilevel modeling with an emphasis on some of its applications in social and personality psychology. This introduction includes a description of multilevel modeling, a rationale for this technique, and a discussion of applications of multilevel modeling in social and personality psychological research. Some of the subtleties of setting up multilevel analyses and interpreting results are presented, and software options are discussed.
Three studies evaluated the reliability and validity of the Investment Model Scale, an instrument designed to measure four constructs, including commitment level and three bases of dependence–satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. In all three studies, reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency among items designed to measure each construct. Also, principal components analyses performed on scale items revealed evidence of four factors, with items designed to measure each construct loading on independent factors. Studies 2 and 3 examined associations of model variables with instruments measuring diverse qualities of relationships and assorted personal dispositions. As anticipated, Investment Model variables were moderately associated with other measures reflecting superior couple functioning (e.g., dyadic adjustment, trust level, inclusion of other in the self), and were essentially unrelated to measures assessing personal dispositions (e.g., need for cognition, self-esteem). In addition, Study 3 demonstrated that earlier measures of Investment Model variables predicted later levels of dyadic adjustment and later relationship status (persisted vs. ended). It is hoped that the existence of a reliable and valid Investment Model Scale will promote further research regarding commitment and interdependence in ongoing close relationships.
The greater power of bad events over good ones is found in everyday events, major life events (e.g., trauma), close relationship outcomes, social network patterns, interpersonal interactions, and learning processes. Bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones, and bad information is processed more thoroughly than good. The self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones. Various explanations such as diagnosticity and salience help explain some findings, but the greater power of bad events is still found when such variables are controlled. Hardly any exceptions (indicating greater power of good) can be found. Taken together, these findings suggest that bad is stronger than good, as a general principle across a broad range of psychological phenomena.
This paper presents a new model of gratitude incorporating not only the gratitude that arises following help from others but also a habitual focusing on and appreciating the positive aspects of life", incorporating not only the gratitude that arises following help from others, but also a habitual focusing on and appreciating the positive aspects of life. Research into individual differences in gratitude and well-being is reviewed, including gratitude and psychopathology, personality, relationships, health, subjective and eudemonic well-being, and humanistically orientated functioning. Gratitude is strongly related to well-being, however defined, and this link may be unique and causal. Interventions to clinically increase gratitude are critically reviewed, and concluded to be promising, although the positive psychology literature may have neglected current limitations, and a distinct research strategy is suggested. Finally, mechanisms whereby gratitude may relate to well-being are discussed, including schematic biases, coping, positive affect, and broaden-and-build principles. Gratitude is relevant to clinical psychology due to (a) strong explanatory power in understanding well-being, and (b) the potential of improving well-being through fostering gratitude with simple exercises.
Perceived emotional support from close relationship partners in times of stress is a major predictor of well-being. However, recent research has suggested that, beyond emotional support, perceived support for achieving personal goals is also important for well-being. The present study extends such research by demonstrating that associations of perceived goal support with well-being differ depending on how people represent their goals and the general motivational context in which they pursue these goals. Among unmarried romantic partners, for whom the context of the relationship presumably is largely attainment oriented, perceived support for attainment-relevant (or promotion-focused) goals independently predicted relationship and personal well-being, whereas perceived support for maintenance-relevant (or prevention-focused) goals did not. In contrast, among married partners, for whom the context of the relationship presumably is both attainment and maintenance oriented, perceived support for both promotion-focused and prevention-focused goals independently predicted well-being. We discuss the implications for forecasting and improving well-being among married couples.
A common problem for both principal component analysis and image component analysis is determining how many components to retain. A number of solutions have been proposed, none of which is totally satisfactory. An alternative solution which employs a matrix of partial correlations is considered. No components are extracted after the average squared partial correlation reaches a minimum. This approach gives an exact stopping point, has a direct operational interpretation, and can be applied to any type of component analysis. The method is most appropriate when component analysis is employed as an alternative to, or a first-stage solution for, factor analysis.
In addition to widely used endorsement methods, one way to get at people's thoughts is to have them verbalize while engaged in a task or situation. The articulated thoughts in simulated situations (ATSS) paradigm is a think-aloud approach to cognitive assessment that has several advantages: an unstructured production response format, on-line rather than retrospective assessment, situational specificity and control, and flexibility of situation and cognitions. The authors review experiments that have examined articulated thoughts in clinically relevant contexts. ATSS does have certain limitations and further research into its psychometric properties is needed, but it seems promising as a versatile and adaptable method of cognitive assessment, especially when little is known of the cognitive terrain of interest.
The influence of social relationships on human development and behavior is receiving increased attention from psychologists, who are central contributors to the rapidly developing multidisciplinary field of relationship science. In this article, the authors selectively review some of the significant strides that have been made toward understanding the effects of relationships on development and behavior and the processes by which relationships exert their influence on these, with the purpose of highlighting important questions that remain to be answered, controversial issues that need to be resolved, and potentially profitable paths for future inquiry. The authors' thesis is that important advances in psychological knowledge will be achieved from concerted investigation of the relationship context in which most important human behaviors are developed and displayed.
Four studies examined the intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of seeking out others when good things happen (i.e., capitalization). Two studies showed that communicating personal positive events with others was associated with increased daily positive affect and well-being, above and beyond the impact of the positive event itself and other daily events. Moreover, when others were perceived to respond actively and constructively (and not passively or destructively) to capitalization attempts, the benefits were further enhanced. Two studies found that close relationships in which one's partner typically responds to capitalization attempts enthusiastically were associated with higher relationship well-being (e.g., intimacy, daily marital satisfaction). The results are discussed in terms of the theoretical and empirical importance of understanding how people "cope" with positive events, cultivate positive emotions, and enhance social bonds.
In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study 1 revealed that self-ratings and observer ratings of the grateful disposition are associated with positive affect and well-being prosocial behaviors and traits, and religiousness/spirituality. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large nonstudent sample. Study 3 yielded similar results to Studies 1 and 2 and provided evidence that gratitude is negatively associated with envy and materialistic attitudes. Study 4 yielded evidence that these associations persist after controlling for Extraversion/positive affectivity, Neuroticism/negative affectivity, and Agreeableness. The development of the Gratitude Questionnaire, a unidimensional measure with good psychometric properties, is also described.
In addition to widely used endorsement methods, one way to get at people's thoughts is to have them verbalize while engaged in a task or situation. The articulated thoughts in simulated situations (ATSS) paradigm is a think-aloud approach to cognitive assessment that has several advantages: an unstructured production response format, on-line rather than retrospective assessment, situational specificity and control, and flexibility of situation and cognitions. The authors review experiments that have examined articulated thoughts in clinically relevant contexts. ATSS does have certain limitations and further research into its psychometric properties is needed, but it seems promising as a versatile and adaptable method of cognitive assessment, especially when little is known of the cognitive terrain of interest.
Being able to carefully perceive and distinguish the rich complexity in emotional experiences is a key component of psychological interventions. We review research in clinical, social, and health psychology that offers insights into the adaptive value of putting feelings into words with a high degree of complexity (i.e., emotion differentiation or emotional granularity). According to recent research, upon experiencing intense distress, individuals who experience their emotions with more granularity are less likely to resort to maladaptive self-regulatory strategies such as binge drinking, aggression, and self-injurious behavior; show less neural reactivity to rejection; and experience less severe anxiety and depressive disorders. These findings shed light on how negative emotions and stressful experiences can be transformed by people’s emotion-differentiation skill. Besides basic research suggesting that emotion differentiation is an important developmental process, evidence suggests that interventions designed to improve emotion differentiation can both reduce psychological problems and increase various strands of well-being.
Though interest in the emotion of gratitude has historically focused on its role in social exchange, new evidence suggests a different and more important role for gratitude in social life. The find-remind-and-bind theory of gratitude posits that the positive emotion of gratitude serves the evolutionary function of strengthening a relationship with a responsive interaction partner (Algoe, Haidt, & Gable, 2008). The current article identifies prior, economic models of gratitude, elaborates on unique features of the find-remind-and-bind theory, reviews the accumulating evidence for gratitude in social life in light of this novel perspective, and discusses how the find-remind-and-bind theory is relevant to methodology and hypothesis testing. In sum, within the context of reciprocally-altruistic relationships, gratitude signals communal relationship norms and may be an evolved mechanism to fuel upward spirals of mutually responsive behaviors between recipient and benefactor. In this way, gratitude is important for forming and maintaining the most important relationships of our lives, those with the people we interact with every day.
Psychological need constructs have received increased attention within self-determination theory research. Unfortunately, the most widely used need-satisfaction measure, the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS; Gagné in Motiv Emot 27:199–223, 2003), has been found to be problematic (Johnston and Finney in Contemp Educ Psychol 35:280–296, 2010). In the current study, we formally describe an alternate measure, the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs (BMPN). We explore the factor structure of student responses to both the BPNS and the BMPN, followed by an empirical comparison of the BPNS to the BMPN as predictors of relevant outcomes. For both scales, we tested a model specifying three latent need factors (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and two latent method factors (satisfaction and dissatisfaction). By specifying and comparing a series of nested confirmatory factor analytic models, we examine the theoretical structure of the need satisfaction variables and produce evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the posited constructs. The results of our examination suggest that the three need variables should not be combined into one general need factor and may have separate satisfaction and dissatisfaction dimensions. Our model comparisons also suggest the BMPN may be an improved instrument for SDT researchers.
Good things happen. In fact, positive events occur more often than negative events. In this chapter, we review research showing that people often turn to others to share their good news, a process called capitalization. These studies show that both the act of telling others about good events and the response of the person with whom the event was shared have personal and interpersonal consequences. We outline a theoretical foundation and propose a model of capitalization processes that includes mechanisms linking the act of telling others and their response to personal and interpersonal outcomes. This research has shown that when the close other responds in an active and constructive manner (and not in a passive or destructive manner), both the discloser and the relationship between the discloser and the responder profit. Personal benefits linked to capitalization processes include increased positive emotions, subjective well-being, and self-esteem, and decreased loneliness. Relationship benefits associated with capitalization processes include satisfaction, intimacy, commitment, trust, liking, closeness, and stability. We also review evidence for mechanisms involved in capitalization processes. Throughout this chapter, we discuss capitalization processes in the larger context of how people “cope” during good times and the value of having supportive partners in this process. Although research has consistently emphasized coping with negative events, our work suggests that positive events similarly provide both opportunities and challenges.
We investigated the relationship between various character strengths and life satisfaction among 5,299 adults from three Internet samples using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. Consistently and robustly associated with life satisfaction were hope, zest, gratitude, love, and curiosity. Only weakly associated with life satisfaction, in contrast, were modesty and the intellectual strengths of appreciation of beauty, creativity, judgment, and love of learning. In general, the relationship between character strengths and life satisfaction was monotonic, indicating that excess on any one character strength does not diminish life satisfaction.
One of the great virtues of structural equation models is that they permit the quantification of causal and noncausal sources of statistical relationship. The present article discusses efficient matrix methods of computation for effect decomposition and extends these methods to models with unstandardized variables and to nonrecursive models. An appendix includes a computer program, written in APL, which implements the techniques described in the article.
This paper presents a new short‐form scale for use by clinical workers and researchers in measuring the degree or magnitude of a problem in the sexual component of a dyadic relationship, as seen by the respondent. The scale was designed for use in repeated administrations at periodic intervals in order that therapists might continually monitor and evaluate their clients' response to treatment. Internal consistency and test‐retest reliability were found to be in excess of .90, and the scale has a discriminant validity coefficient of .76.
Hedonic adaptation refers to the process by which individuals return to baseline levels of happiness following a change in life circumstances. Dominant models of subjective well-being (SWB) suggest that people can adapt to almost any life event and that happiness levels fluctuate around a biologically determined set point that rarely changes. Recent evidence from large-scale panel studies challenges aspects of this conclusion. Although inborn factors certainly matter and some adaptation does occur, events such as divorce, death of a spouse, unemployment, and disability are associated with lasting changes in SWB. These recent studies also show that there are considerable individual differences in the extent to which people adapt. Thus, happiness levels do change, and adaptation is not inevitable.
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
The interventions described in this chapter represent the products of a new approach to empirically building marital therapy interventions. The chapter addresses why there is a need for a new marital therapy, discusses the characteristics of "dysfunctional" and "functional" marriages, provides a basic description of sound marital house theory, and details the goals and processes of the intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined relations between characteristics of personal goal strivings (e.g., importance, past attainment, effort) and components of subjective well-being (positive and negative affect and life satisfaction). 40 undergraduates generated lists of their personal strivings and rated each striving on a series of dimensions. Ss also recorded their moods and thoughts by use of an experience-sampling method on 84 occasions over a 3-wk period. Positive affect was found to be most strongly related to striving value and past fulfillment, whereas negative affect was associated with low probability of future success, striving ambivalence, and between-striving conflict. Striving importance and instrumentality (low conflict) were the strongest predictors of life satisfaction. Possible explanations for the connections between striving fulfillment and positive affect and between striving conflict and negative affect are discussed. It is concluded that the concept of personal striving is a useful heuristic device for understanding individual differences in subjective well-being. The concept is proposed as an alternative to the traditional trait approach to personality. (71 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article presents the basis for, and the research on, emotionally focused couples therapy (EFT), now recognized as one of the most researched and most effective approaches to changing distressed marital relationships. Drawing on attachment theory and the research on interactional patterns in distressed relationships, we describe the theoretical context of EFT. We then outline the nature of the clinical interventions used in EFT and the steps hypothesized to be crucial to couple change. The central role of accessing and working with emotional issues in the relationship context is highlighted. Following this presentation, we review both the outcome and process research on EFT and present meta-anarytic data from randomized clinical trials to substantiate the clinical impact of EFT on couple adjustment. Finally, the empirical and clinical challenges facing EFT are summarized.
PAIR, acronym for Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, was developed as a tool for educators, researchers and therapists. PAIR provides systematic information on five types of intimacy: emotional, social, sexual, intellectual and recreational. Individuals, married or unmarried, describe their relationship in terms of how they currently perceive it (perceived) and how they would like it to be (expected). PAIR can be used with couples in marital therapy and enrichment groups.
The Kansas Marital Satisfaction (KMS) Scale is found to correlate substantially with both Spanier's (1976) Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and Norton's (1983) Quality Marriage Index (QMI), but not to correlate significantly more than those two scales with a variety of other satisfaction items designed to assess the discriminant validity of the KMS scale. Other characteristics of the KMS scale are similar to those reported in previous research and compare favorably with those of the DAS and the QMI, even though the latter scales contain more items than the KMS scale. It is concluded that the KMS scale may serve as a useful brief measure of marital satisfaction in future research with married couples.
Data collected from both members of a dyad provide abundant opportunities as well as data analytic challenges. The Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM; Kashy & Kenny, 2000) was developed as a conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing dyadic data, primarily by stressing the importance of considering the interdependence that exists between dyad members. The goal of this paper is to detail how the APIM can be implemented in dyadic research, and how its effects can be estimated using hierarchical linear modeling, including PROC MIXED in SAS and HLM (version 5.04; Raudenbush, Bryk, Cheong, & Congdon, 2001). The paper describes the APIM and illustrates how the data set must be structured to use the data analytic methods proposed. It also presents the syntax needed to estimate the model, indicates how several types of interactions can be tested, and describes how the output can be interpreted.
Good things happen. In fact, positive events occur more often than negative events. In this chapter, we review research showing that people often turn to others to share their good news, a process called capitalization. These studies show that both the act of telling others about good events and the response of the person with whom the event was shared have personal and interpersonal consequences. We outline a theoretical foundation and propose a model of capitalization processes that includes mechanisms linking the act of telling others and their response to personal and interpersonal outcomes. This research has shown that when the close other responds in an active and constructive manner (and not in a passive or destructive manner), both the discloser and the relationship between the discloser and the responder profit. Personal benefits linked to capitalization processes include increased positive emotions, subjective well-being, and self-esteem, and decreased loneliness. Relationship benefits associated with capitalization processes include satisfaction, intimacy, commitment, trust, liking, closeness, and stability. We also review evidence for mechanisms involved in capitalization processes. Throughout this chapter, we discuss capitalization processes in the larger context of how people “cope” during good times and the value of having supportive partners in this process. Although research has consistently emphasized coping with negative events, our work suggests that positive events similarly provide both opportunities and challenges.
The field of positive psychology rests on the assumption that certain psychological traits and processes are inherently beneficial for well-being. We review evidence that challenges this assumption. First, we review data from 4 independent longitudinal studies of marriage revealing that 4 ostensibly positive processes-forgiveness, optimistic expectations, positive thoughts, and kindness-can either benefit or harm well-being depending on the context in which they operate. Although all 4 processes predicted better relationship well-being among spouses in healthy marriages, they predicted worse relationship well-being in more troubled marriages. Then, we review evidence from other research that reveals that whether ostensibly positive psychological traits and processes benefit or harm well-being depends on the context of various noninterpersonal domains as well. Finally, we conclude by arguing that any movement to promote well-being may be most successful to the extent that it (a) examines the conditions under which the same traits and processes may promote versus threaten well-being, (b) examines both healthy and unhealthy people, (c) examines well-being over substantial periods of time, and (d) avoids labeling psychological traits and processes as positive or negative.
Despite a burgeoning literature that documents numerous positive implications of forgiveness, scholars know very little about the potential negative implications of forgiveness. In particular, the tendency to express forgiveness may lead offenders to feel free to offend again by removing unwanted consequences for their behavior (e.g., anger, criticism, rejection, loneliness) that would otherwise discourage reoffending. Consistent with this possibility, the current longitudinal study of newlywed couples revealed a positive association between spouses' reports of their tendencies to express forgiveness to their partners and those partners' reports of psychological and physical aggression. Specifically, although spouses who reported being relatively more forgiving experienced psychological and physical aggression that remained stable over the first 4 years of marriage, spouses who reported being relatively less forgiving experienced declines in both forms of aggression over time. These findings join just a few others in demonstrating that forgiveness is not a panacea.
This research was conducted to examine the hypothesis that expressing gratitude to a relationship partner enhances one's perception of the relationship's communal strength. In Study 1 (N = 137), a cross-sectional survey, expressing gratitude to a relationship partner was positively associated with the expresser's perception of the communal strength of the relationship. In Study 2 (N = 218), expressing gratitude predicted increases in the expresser's perceptions of the communal strength of the relationship across time. In Study 3 (N = 75), participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition, in which they expressed gratitude to a friend, or to one of three control conditions, in which they thought grateful thoughts about a friend, thought about daily activities, or had positive interactions with a friend. At the end of the study, perceived communal strength was higher among participants in the expression-of-gratitude condition than among those in all three control conditions. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of these findings and suggest directions for future research.
Goldberg (1992) developed a robust set of 100 adjective markers for the Big-Five factor structure found in phenotypic personality description. Because and even briefer marker set might be advantageous under certain assessment conditions, the performance of these 100 markers in 12 data sets was scrutinized, leading to the selection of an optimally robust subset of only 40 adjectives. This "Mini-Marker" subset demonstrated unusually impressive features for an abbreviated inventory, consisting of five scales that show, in comparison to the original scales, less use of difficult items, lower interscale correlations, and somewhat higher mean inter-item correlations; alpha reliabilities are somewhat lower. A format for administering this briefer inventory is appended.
Using a step-wise multiple regression analysis, this study examined the role, in nondistressed marriages, of such sexual variables as frequency of sexual activity, number of orgasms, sexual desire, and sexual excitability in the prediction of female sexual satisfaction as compared to the role of such personality and relationship variables as sexual assertiveness, sexual attitudes (erotophobia-erotophilia), and relationship closeness. The findings suggest that individual and relationship variables (sexual assertiveness, erotophilia, and relationship closeness) aid in the prediction of female sexual satisfaction over and above what can be learned from knowing about the frequency of sexual activity, the number of orgasms a woman has, her level of sexual excitability, and how much she desired the sexual activity. Findings, methodological advances in the use of sex diaries, and limitations of the study are explored.
Attachment research has traditionally focused on individual differences in global patterns of attachment to important others. The current research instead focuses primarily on within-person variability in attachments across relational partners. It was predicted that within-person variability would be substantial, even among primary attachment figures of mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend. The prediction was supported in three studies. Furthermore, in line with self-determination theory, multilevel modeling and regression analyses showed that, at the relationship level, individuals' experience of fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted overall attachment security, model of self, and model of other. Relations of both attachment and need satisfaction to well-being were also explored.