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Character strengths are basic psychological ingredients that enable us to act in ways that enhance our well-being and life satisfaction. Despite research linking strength-based behavior to psychological health, few studies have examined their role within treatment. This study utilized a large and diverse sample of treatment-seeking university students to examine three specific questions: 1) what are the relationships between character strengths and symptom, social role, and interpersonal relationship impairment at intake? 2) do character strengths predict treatment outcome? 3) do signature strengths predict number of sessions completed? Participants completed a measure of strengths at intake and an outcome-based measure at intake and at every subsequent psychotherapy session. Results demonstrated the importance of Zest in relation to all subscales, being an excellerator of treatment progress and associated with better and faster treatment outcome and completion. Other findings of note include the protective factor of Love of Learning in this population, the paradoxical relationship between outcome and Persistence, Justice and Perseverance as overall predictors of better outcomes, and Hope as a predictor of less sessions completed. Clinical and research implications are discussed throughout.

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the current research was to determine the effect of equitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being on promoting student's mental health. The researchers eagerly explored everyday situations happening in male elementary schools of district Lahore, focusing on pandemic situations with zeal and zest. Methodology: The researchers structured causal-comparative research focusing positivist paradigm on a sample of randomly selected 980 respondents enrolled in male elementary schools of district Lahore of Punjab-Pakistan. The authors collected the data after administering Scott (2006) Educational Equity and school reforms Scale, Prince-Embury (2013) Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents, Ryff’s (1989) Psychological Well-beings Scale, and Lukat et al. (2016) Positive Mental Health Scale. After ensuring ethical considerations, the researchers run regression technique, one way; ANOVA and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) on the participants data. Main findings: The findings revealed that educational equity effect 81%, resilience 87.10%, and psychological well-being affect 66.60% in promoting students mental health. Educational equity, resilience, and psychological well-being have the same effect on 6th, 7th, and 8th grades students in promoting their mental health. Further a significant strong association between educational equity and mental health (r = .900**, n = 985, p < .05), resilience and mental health (r = .946**, n = 984, p < .05) and psychological well-beings and students mental health (r = .815**, n = 985, p < .05). Applications of this study: The results of the research will be applicable for headteachers, teachers, and parents to get aware of the worth of equitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being that play an enormous role in promoting students mental health. The debatable constructs of the current research will provide capable stakeholders to know the entire magnitude of mental health that drastically instigate and enhance student's vigour, attentiveness, dependability, intellectual ability, and optimism. Novelty/originality of this study: It is evident from the literature that less work is conducted inequitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being that play a massive role in promoting students mental health. In the case of Pakistan, the situation is very alarming and the meager because none of the researchers took initiative to framed research on these burning constructs. However, this research will opened new dimensions for the future researchers that will raise their intentions to explore the effect of primary, secondary, higher secondary, and tertiary level students equitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being on their mental health.

Participative pricing demonstrates the basic idea of allowing customer participation in price-setting process. Nottingham Playhouse, IBIS Singapore, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wiener Deewan, Girl Talk, 8k, Zest consulting, Radiohead band and many more have successfully implemented pay-what-you-want (PWYW), the most innovative form of participative pricing. Based on the degree of participation, PWYW is the highest form that allows buyers to select any price they want to pay for a product/service, including zero. The present study examines how customers lower their motivation to pay more for products offered under PWYW by morally disengaging themselves from reciprocity concerns. It focuses on one mechanism of moral disengagement—displacement of responsibility and tests the proposed hypotheses in PWYW context. 284 responses were gathered using structured questionnaires at a reputed public university. Data were analysed using partial least-squares structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that customers’ moral disengagement via displacement of responsibility towards reciprocity concerns is negatively associated with willingness-to-pay more (WTPM). Results corroborate the attenuating role of perceived control on the negative association between displacement of responsibility towards reciprocity concerns and WTPM. However, relaxation from monetary commitments does not have a significant moderating effect on the negative relationship between moral disengagement and WTPM. This study is possibly the first to empirically investigate the interplay among individuals’ cognitive mechanisms, moral disengagement from reciprocity concerns and socio-demographic variables under participative pricing. Findings empirically substantiate the theory of moral disengagement, moral self-regulation and social cognitive theory. Practitioners should actively engage customers’ moral self-regulation process and provide more sense of perceived control while designing participative pricing offerings.

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the 24 character strengths in Peterson and Seligman's (2004) model on quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), controlling for more commonly investigated biopsychosocial variables including resilience, social support, personality traits, depression, fatigue, and disability. Method Six hundred and 24 individuals with MS completed an online survey. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the contribution of character strengths over the control variables. Results The character strengths variables were significantly related to quality of life, even after controlling for the other variables. Individually, appreciation for beauty, gratitude, hope, and zest all significantly contributed to quality of life. The control variables, as a group, were significantly associated with quality of life. Individually, fatigue, depression, resilience, social support from family, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness all significantly contributed to quality of life. Conclusions The findings of this study provide support for the development of character strengths interventions to help increase quality of life in individuals with multiple sclerosis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: This study investigated the validity of the Social Emotional Health Survey–Primary (SEHS-P;Furlong et al., 2013), which assesses four wellness dispositions (gratitude, optimism, zest, an...

The Covid-19 pandemic obliged people around the world to stay home and self-isolate, with a number of negative psychological consequences. This study focuses on the protective role of character strengths in sustaining mental health and self-efficacy during lockdown. Data were collected from 944 Italian respondents (mean age = 37.24 years, SD = 14.50) by means of an online survey investigating character strengths, psychological distress and Covid-19-related self-efficacy one month after lockdown began. Using principal component analysis, four strengths factors were extracted, namely transcendence, interpersonal, openness and restraint. Regression models with second-order factors showed that transcendence strengths had a strong inverse association with psychological distress, and a positive association with self-efficacy. Regression models with single strengths identified hope, zest, prudence, love and forgiveness as the strengths most associated with distress, love and zest as the most related to self-efficacy and zest to general mental health. Openness factor and appreciation of beauty showed an unexpected direct relation with psychological distress. These results provide original evidence of the association of character strengths, and transcendence strengths in particular, with mental health and self-efficacy in a pandemic and are discussed within the field of positive psychology.

In this study, we first discuss the current status and issues of disaster management education in the context of special support education in Japan, in view of the casualties of those with disabilities during major past earthquakes in Japan. We highlight that there are very few examples of practical implementation of, instructional material for, or previous studies on disaster management education for disabled children, or an established systematic instructional method. As a result, disaster management education tailored to the specific type of disability has been implemented on a school-to-school basis among Special Support Schools for children with disabilities. In many cases, teacher-led evacuation drills have been considered disaster management education. This is an indication that the disaster management education currently practiced in Special Support Schools is inadequate to achieve the goal of “fostering the attitude of acting on one’s initiative” as set forth by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). In view of the situation in Japan, where casualties due to natural disasters continue to occur frequently since the Great East Japan Earthquake, it is urgent that we promote practical disaster management education to foster the Zest for Life among disabled children. This paper is a case study of disaster management education that targets those with intellectual disabilities, which is the largest reported disability type among children enrolled in Special Support Schools in Japan. We applied the ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) process in instructional design to develop an earthquake disaster management program designed to heighten the capacity of disabled children to foresee and circumvent danger to themselves, so as to protect their lives from large earthquakes which occur frequently in Japan. Specifically, the objective is to apply the earthquake disaster management education program, developed by the authors in a previous study, to children with intellectual disabilities. To this end, we implemented the program at the target school and verified its educational effect while taking into consideration the degree or condition of disability and the learning characteristics of the intellectually disabled and developed a valid program for intellectually disabled children. The program allows the teachers of Special Support Schools to practice disaster management education in the context of daily classroom study with students without the need to dispatch a disaster management expert to the school each time a program is implemented. Additionally, the program can be customized by the onsite teacher for individual schools, which can lead to a systematic program in disaster management education. In addition, we propose a framework to establish a network of stakeholders, including disaster management experts or organizations and educational institutions to effectively and strategically promote disaster management education. This framework makes it possible to implement the present program the most impactful way, and to maximize the benefits to the schools in Tochigi prefecture.

COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019. As long as this type of coronavirus was new, the main way for governments to avoid the spread of the infection was enforced quarantine. Besides public health protection, quarantine can have a psychological impact on the residents, with main symptoms being angst, anxiety, depressive, and PTSD symptoms. As it has been found that character strengths can promote subjective wellbeing, the purpose of the study was to examine this relationship under the new situation of quarantine in the Greek population in adults who were in quarantine for at least two weeks. The total sample consisted of 354 participants who were aged 18–72-years-old. A total of 263 participants were women (74.3%), 91 were men (25.7%), and 94.6% of them were highly educated. The sample was a convenience sample. The tools used were PANAS, PERMA and finally VIA-114GR. The data analysis was completed using SPSS software version 26.0 (IBM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp) and EQS 6.1 (Multivariate Software Inc.: Encino, CA, USA, 2006). The results showed that love, curiosity, persistence, hope, and zest are strongly associated with subjective wellbeing, even in conditions such as quarantine, and can support specific aspects of it.

Caregiver burden is the negative impact that caregivers perceive as a result of their caregiving tasks. According to the stress process model, contextual variables and primary and secondary stressors produce negative mental health outcomes in caregivers. However, this relationship may be buffered by psychological resources which act as mediators/moderators. Although there is research on the mediating/moderating effect of mastery, coping strategies, and social support, the effect of psychological values remains unexplored. This study aimed to explore, after controlling for contextual variables and stressors, which character strengths are associated with caregiver burden. We also sought to analyze the mediating/moderating effect of character strengths on the relationship between burden and the significant contextual variables and stressors. To this end, a sample of 115 caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia completed a questionnaire battery. Correlational analysis, multiple regression modeling, and mediation and moderation analysis were performed. The results revealed that the caregivers who experience the greatest burden are those who live with the care recipient, who score higher on perceived stress, who feel their leisure time is limited, and who perceive more financial strain. Higher scores on caregiver burden were associated with lower scores on hope, zest, social intelligence, and love. Regression modeling indicated that hope was the strength which best predicted burden and that hope mediated the relationship between perceived stress and burden. No moderation effect was found. The results suggest that hope-based programs could enhance positive emotions and reduce the perceived negative impact of caregiving.

Adaptive emotion expression characterizes secure parent-child relationships in which children rely on attachment figures for secure base and safe haven support. We hypothesized that more securely attached children would report experiencing greater positive emotion. Children (N=92; M=11.91 years) completed the Friends and Family Interview which was coded for attachment security indicators (narrative coherence, mother and father safe haven support, mother and father secure base support). We analyzed Youth Values in Action Inventory strengths that reflected positive emotions (curiosity, zest, hope, love, gratitude). No attachment security indicators correlated with curiosity, all correlated with zest and gratitude, and four correlated with hope and love. Controlling for IQ, age, and temperament, attachment security significantly predicted positive emotion (12-19% variance); father secure base support uniquely predicted positive emotion. Our findings highlight the important role parental attachment plays in children's emotion experience and have implications for explaining why attachment might relate to children's other close relationships.

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships of preservice teachers’ year of study in the teacher education program, creativity, zest, and self-efficacy in managing children’s behav...

Suicide is a leading cause of death among youth globally. In this critical interpretive synthesis, we examined literature on resiliency factors and suicidality. Systematic searches identified 474 articles, 37 of which were included. Results revealed internal (positive self-appraisal, zest for life, personal traits, and coping skills) and external factors (social support system and inclusive environments) contribute to resilience among youth, with age, sex and gender, and Indigenous identity as important intersecting considerations. Findings validated fostering resilience as primary suicide prevention among youth, with little explanation for how these factors may work to protect youth from suicidality. Continued research in this area requires a focus on how to promote resilience at the community and systems levels.

It has been an honour and pleasure to come to know Emeritus-Professor Ruut Veenhoven through the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS). Thinking back over the many encounters we had at various scientific conferences, meetings and events and also, progressive stages of development in my academic journey on happiness research and promotion, three occasions always feature most strongly in my memory.

There is empirical evidence that life satisfaction (LS) in adolescence is associated with adequate development and future well-being. Research into the factors underpinning LS can therefore help to promote healthier development of societies. The aim of this study was to extend knowledge about LS among adolescents in Ecuador, a Latin American country for which research on this topic is lacking. Specifically, we analyze the relationship between LS and character strengths, controlling for gender, age, socioeconomic status, and family structure. Participants were 659 adolescents (43.1% female) aged between 12 and 18 years who completed the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS) and the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Y). Their parents or legal guardians completed the Survey of Socioeconomic Stratification (SSES). Correlation analysis and regression modeling were performed. Results showed that LS was not related to age or socioeconomic status, but there was a significant association with gender and family structure, insofar as boys and adolescents living in intact families reported higher levels of LS. Overall, the majority of character strengths were positively related to LS. After eliminating overlap between strengths and controlling for sociodemographic variables, the strengths of hope, zest, love, and prudence significantly predicted LS. We discuss how these strengths, related to the cognitive component of well-being, may play a protective role against difficulties during adolescence. Character strengths-based interventions are proposed to promote healthy development in Ecuadorian adolescents. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBUA

A dual approach to mental health in schools has been widely defended, where the assessment of psychological distress and the examination of strengths/well-being are two separate continua. In line with a well-being approach, school belonging has been referenced as an important indicator of mental health in children. This study explored the predictive role of school sense of belonging alongside other demographic variables (gender, main language spoken at home, and socio-economic status of postcode) on the socio-emotional health profiles of primary school children in England. Children (N = 522) were recruited from three primary schools in Greater London. A survey including measures of school belonging and socio-emotional health was administered to all children. Results showed that it is possible to identify groups of students at primary school level based on socio-emotional health ratings on gratitude, zest, optimism, and perseverance. School sense of membership, as measured by the psychological sense of school membership primary (PSSM-P), was the best predictor of group membership and, together with socio-economic status, explains 37% of the variance in socio-emotional health profiles. Belonging starts affecting well-being and socio-emotional health as early as in primary school, hence the importance of universal screening and early preventive actions to promote well-being in this age range. The study provides evidence supporting the use of the abbreviated (PSSM-P) in predicting socio-emotional health profiles, with potential to complement distress-based measures.

In my early 40s I felt exhausted: I was juggling general practice, motherhood, and carving a career in addiction. More than this, I’d lost my joy and zest for work. It had become routine—and, if I’m honest, caring for patients had become a burden. Until then I’d been an idealistic, enthusiastic, engaged GP and had truly loved my work, especially the patient facing aspects. But now, medicine had lost its spark. Looking back, I had classic burnout. Burnout is formally defined as a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long term involvement in demanding situations. For me it conjures up an image of “destroyed” individuals, shells of their former selves, …

Psychotherapy has primarily focused on ameliorating symptoms and psychopathology. This is in contrast to positive psychology, which has focused on bringing about what Keyes (2002) has called "flourishing." Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) seeks to bridge the two traditions by both relieving suffering through processing painful negative emotions to completion and then going on to foster flourishing, in session and beyond, through a technique called metatherapeutic processing. After a brief summary of the AEDP approach, the aim of this article is to elaborate specifically on metatherapeutic processing, where a focus on savoring and exploring the positive affects that accompany the change process itself can set into motion an upward spiral of positive affect that broadens and builds the treatment's effectiveness. We provide a how-to primer on metatherapeutic processing as well as annotated transcript material from three cases to illustrate the application of the technique. We describe how metatherapeutic processing can organically foster, from the bottom-up, positive feeling states labeled transformational affects, such as gratitude, love, hope, curiosity, and zest, freeing up these vital energies that were latent within the client. We go on to propose that although metatherapeutic processing was conceived of within the framework of AEDP, it is a technique that can be integrated into a wide variety of psychotherapies, to activate flourishing in session and beyond. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The theory of engagement posits that an engaged employee has a highly positive attitude that is characterized by an unparalleled zest for life, energy, the will to work, and to commit themselves fully. This allows the employee to achieve special performances. Those who are engaged, are open to new ideas, are both physically and mentally healthy, look for their authentic talents, and start every new (work)day with plenty of energy and a zest for life. This is not only pleasant for the individual themselves, but also inspiring for their immediate colleagues and beneficial to the organization.

In this chapter we present evidence that a zestful life, characterized by active engagement with life accompanied by a positive outlook and free from recent depletions of enthusiasm and vigor for life, may be an important antidote to factors thought to proximally and causally antecede suicide. Specifically, we test the mediating and moderating role of zest for life against the deleterious impacts of the three causal factors proposed by the interpersonal theory (i.e., thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, acquired capability for suicide) using a prospective design. We show that erosion in zest for life amplifies the adverse effects of these causal factors, but undiminished and strong zest confers protection. We conclude that while it is critically important to understand why people die by suicide, we must not neglect to examine why people do not die by suicide, which is the most likely outcome even in the presence of frequent suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Suicide risk assessment and management greatly depend on the suicidal person communicating their doubts about life and intent to die to another person. Assessment of implicit cognition does not rely on self-report and may provide an alternative means to reveal a person's diminishing hold on life. Evidence to date consistently shows that even high-risk individuals hold a stronger implicit self-association with life relative to death/suicide, and the death/suicide implicit association test measures variability in the strength of a person's implicit attachment to life. The association between implicit identification of self with life relative to death and suicide risk is mediated through two competing pathways: acquired capability for suicide and zest for life. Whereas acquired capability is most influential for suicide-specific risk indicators further along the ideation-to-action pathway, zest for life is most influential at the earlier stages of the pathway and for general indicators of risk.

The article presents an analysis of how the body work of home care is transformed when ideals of care as ‘everyday rehabilitation’ (also known as ‘reablement’) are implemented in two Danish home care units. The efforts to transform home care into rehabilitative care in the two units, form part of a nation wide wave of reform initiatives, related to discourses of active ageing and to understandings of quality of life in old age as equal to independence of help. With rehabilitative care efforts home care workers are to activate, coach and re habilitate elderly citizens to live indepen dently and take care of themselves, instead of providing traditional care and assistance, and physically ‘compensating’ for citizens’ disabilities and loss of functional abilities. With a focus on the experiences of home care workers, the article shows how rehabilitative care efforts transform the bodily interactions of home care, and how these transformations lead to new care practices, as well as to new understandings of care work as a less ‘dirty’ occupation. The case studies of the two home care units showed that rehabilitative care en tailed the development of a new optimistic narrative on the nature of home care work. Instead of dealing with illness, decline and ‘dirty’ bodily functions, rehabilitative home care work was understood as deal ing with resources, potential and ‘zest for life’. Furthermore the bodily interactions, or ‘bodily choreographies’, of home care became more physically distanced, and new forms of ‘rehabilitative touch’ were developed by care workers. These new bod ily choreographies were closely intertwined with the optimistic narrative of home care as resource oriented and promoting activ ity and independence. With these new bod ily practices and understandings of home care work, a potential for renegotiation of the status of home care work is created. With rehabilitative care, care work may be understood as a less ‘dirty’ occupation and the low status of care work in professional and ‘dirt hierarchies’ may be challenged. However, with the new practices of care, new potentials for tension and conflict also arise in everyday interactions with citizens, since not all elderly citizens seem to share the ambitions of increased independence and bodily self care.

Reliable test scores are essential to interpret the results obtained in statistical analyses correctly. In this study, we used the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) as an example of a widely applied assessment instrument to analyze its metric quality in what is known as reliability generalization (RG). In addition, we conducted a meta-analysis of the correlations between character strengths and life satisfaction to examine the potential relationship between the reliability of test scores and the intensity of these correlations. The overall variability of alpha coefficients supports the argument that reliability is sample dependent. Indeed, there were statistically significant mean reliability differences for scores across the 24 scales, with the highest level of reliability observed for Creativity and the lowest for scores on Self-regulation. Significant moderators such as the standard deviation of the scores and the sample type contribute to understand the high variability observed in the reliability estimation. The second meta-analysis showed that Zest, Hope, Gratitude, Curiosity, and Love were the character strengths that were highly related to life satisfaction, while Modesty and Prudence were less related to life satisfaction. Furthermore, the high heterogeneity between samples might be an indicator of the relationship between the variability of reliability of character strengths' scores and the intensity of their correlations with life satisfaction. Those character strengths with high-potential RG are related or unrelated to life satisfaction, whereas character strengths with less-potential RG showed unstable correlation patterns. The results of both studies point out the role of the relationship between the reliability of test scores and substantive studies, such as Pearson's correlations meta-analysis.

The present study investigated a profile-based perspective of six dimensions of character strengths (i.e., heart strengths, heart/self-focused strengths, heart/others-focused strengths, mind strengths, mind/self-focused strengths, and mind/others-focused strengths), with the aim of identifying an optimal combination of Peterson's (2006) character strengths. A second aim was to examine whether profile membership was associated with mental health markers. We predicted that at least two qualitatively distinct profiles would emerge: the “heart” strengths profile and the “mind” strengths profile. We also predicted that a “heart” strengths profile would be more strongly associated with markers of mental health than a “mind” strengths profile. Respondents ( N = 595, M age = 34.11 years, SD = 13.18) completed measures assessing endorsement of character strengths and a range of mental health markers. A latent profile analysis identified an optimal 4-profile solution based on these six dimensions of strengths. Emergent profiles were Profile 1 ( Low Strengths ), Profile 2 ( Mind Strengths ), Profile 3 ( Heart Strengths ), and Profile 4 ( High Strengths ). As expected, profile membership was significantly associated with mental health markers. Notably, strengths of the heart (e.g., zest, hope, kindness) contributed to more favorable presentations. Therefore, cultivating strengths associated with the heart dimension might enhance mental health.

In aging societies, zest for work may be pivotal when deciding to stay occupationally active longer. Psychosocial work stress is a prevalent public health problem and may have an impact on zest for work. Work over-commitment (WOC) is a personal coping strategy for work stress with excessive striving and a health risk. However, the long-term effect of WOC on zest for work is poorly understood.To investigate the age-related associations of work over-commitment with zest for work.During 1996-1998 and 2000-2003, predominantly industrial workers (n = 2940) participated in the WOLF-Norrland study and responded to a questionnaire referring to socio-demographics, WOC, zest for work, effort-reward imbalance proxies, and mental health. Age-adjusted multiple logistic regressions were performed with original and imputed datasets.Cross-sectionally, work overcommitted middle-aged employees had an increased prevalence of poor zest for work compared to their contemporaries without WOC (OR: 3.74 [95%-CI 2.19; 6.40]). However, in a longitudinal analysis associations between onset of 'poor zest for work' and the WOC subscales 'need for approval' (OR: 3.29 [95%-CI 1.04; 10.37]) and 'inability to withdraw from work' (OR: 5.14 [95%-CI 1.32; 20.03]) were observed.The longitudinal findings among older employees could be relevant regarding the expected need to remain occupationally active longer.

The Social Emotional Health Survey–Primary (SEHS-P) was originally developed to assess U.S. elementary students’ positive psychological traits: gratitude, zest, optimism, and persistence, and the higher-order latent construct of covitality. The present study evaluated the validity of a Chinese version of SEHS-P with a sample of 653 Chinese children (Mage = 11.4, SD = 1.0). Confirmatory factor, measurement invariance, and latent means analyses were conducted to evaluate construct validity. Results indicated that the factor structure found for the original U.S. sample was replicated (first-order factors: optimism, gratitude, persistence, zest; second-order factor: covitality). The covitality latent trait was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, higher prosocial behaviors, less victimization and perpetration, and predicted better academic achievement six months later. Implications for using SEHS-P as a social emotional health screening tool for use in Chinese schools are discussed. Future studi...

Despite a number of theoretical propositions suggesting that character strengths are multidimensional and may have darker sides, to date strengths have been approached strictly as a positive entity. The current study sought to (a) define and measure these darker sides of character strengths in the form of underuse-overuse, as well as their traditionally positive counterpart––optimal use––and their associations with positive and negative outcomes, and (b) explain the role of specific strengths' underuse-overuse in social anxiety. Based on an international sample of 238 adults, we found that general character strengths underuse and overuse were related to negative outcomes, while optimal use was related to positive outcomes. The overuse of social intelligence and humility, and underuse of zest, humor, self-regulation and social intelligence was associated with social anxiety. Using discriminant analysis, this combination successfully re-sorted 87.3% of the participants into those that do and do not have clinical levels of social anxiety. These findings suggest that strengths are in fact multifaceted, providing novel insight into the role that sub-optimal-use facets play in undesirable outcomes, providing a glimpse of psychopathology through the lens of positive psychology.

To examine the relationship of character strengths and quality of life (QOL) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, this study examined the relationship of the 24 character strengths in Peterson and Seligman’s model with QOL and three negative effects of MS (disability, fatigue, and depression). It also investigated whether the three negative effects of MS mediate the relationship of each of the character strengths and QOL. Six hundred and twenty-four individuals with MS completed an online survey measuring character strengths, QOL, as measured by the Leeds Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Scale, disability, fatigue, and depression. SPSS was used to complete the correlational analysis, and Hayes’ PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to conduct the mediation analyses. The strengths endorsed most frequently by the participants were honesty, kindness, and fairness. The least-endorsed strengths were self-regulation, zest, and spirituality. The strengths with the strongest association with QOL were zest, hope, and gratitude. Disability was not found to mediate any of the relationships between character strengths and QOL. Many of the character strengths were associated with QOL both directly and indirectly through fatigue and depression. Many of the character strengths in the Peterson and Seligman model enhance QOL in persons with MS, both directly and through their influence on negative effects of MS. The results provide support for the development of character strengths interventions to impact QOL, both directly and indirectly through improvements to MS-related symptoms such as fatigue and depression.

Character strengths are assumed to contribute not only to an individual’s well-being but also to communal thriving, citizenship, and the well-being of others. In particular, they can be assumed to contribute to an individual’s confidence in overcoming barriers to pro-environmental behavior. This confidence, environmental self-efficacy, has primarily been measured in the context of specific behaviors (e.g. recycling). In this study, we developed a broad measure of environmental self-efficacy: the Environmental Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE20) and a derivative short version (ESE10). Through an online survey, two convenience samples completed assessments of environmental self-efficacy, generalized self-efficacy, and character strengths (NC = 224) as well as environmental self-efficacy and psychological barriers to pro-environmental behavior (NV = 169). Both ESE20 and ESE10 demonstrated unidimensionality, reliably captured environmental self-efficacy, and put forward medium to large positive relationships with generalized self-efficacy. The scales further yielded small to medium negative relationships with the psychological barriers Change Unnecessary, Conflicting Goals and Aspirations, Lacking Knowledge, and Tokenism. The character strengths zest and leadership sustained the numerically strongest relationships with environmental self-efficacy (medium positive effects) and generalized self-efficacy (large positive effects). Kindness, humility, prudence, fairness, and forgiveness were only related to environmental self-efficacy (small to medium positive effects), but not to generalized self-efficacy. These five strengths can hence be assumed to be other-focused and to specifically contribute to the well-being of others.

The Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (SEHS-S), which is a measure of core psychological assets based on a higher-order model of Covitality, is comprised of 36 items and four latent traits (with three measured subscales): belief in self (self-efficacy, self-awareness, and persistence), belief in others (school support, family coherence, and peer support), emotional competence (emotional regulation, behavioral self-control, and empathy), and engaged living (gratitude, zest, and optimism). Previous international studies have supported the psychometric properties of the SEHS-S. The present study extended this research by examining the psychometric properties of a Spanish-language adaptation with a sample of 1042 Spanish adolescents (Mage = 14.49, SD = 1.65.). Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the original factorial structure, with hierarchical omega between 0.66&ndash, 0.93, with 0.94 for the total score. Factorial invariance across genders revealed small latent mean differences. A path model evaluated concurrent validity, which revealed a significant association between Covitality and bidimensional mental health (psychological distress and well-being). Specifically, correlational analyses showed a negative association with internalizing/externalizing symptoms, and positive associations with subjective well-being, health-related quality of life, and prosocial behaviors. This study provides an example of a culturally relevant adaptation of an international tool to measure student strengths, which is critical to planning school programming and policy.

This study investigates the antecedents of an entrepreneur’s day-level innovative behavior. Drawing on 2,420 data points from a 10-day experience sampling study with 121 entrepreneurs, we find that sleep quality is a precursor to an entrepreneur’s subsequent innovative behavior, in accordance with the effort-recovery model. Moreover, sleep quality is positively related to high-activation positive moods (e.g., enthusiastic, inspired) and negatively related to high-activation negative moods (e.g., tension, anxiety). Our multilevel structural equation model indicates that high-activation positive moods mediate the relationship between sleep quality and innovative behavior on a given day. These results are relevant for managing entrepreneurial performance.

Cel pracyOcena mocnych stron charakteru osób ze schizofrenią i ich znaczenia w budowaniu satysfakcji z życia. Określenie różnic i podobieństw pod względem mocnych stron pomiędzy chorymi na schizofrenię a osobami zdrowymi.MetodaW badaniu wzięło udział 40 osób z rozpoznaną schizofrenią oraz 40 osób zdrowych. Każdego z uczestników zbadano: Kwestionariuszem Danych Społeczno-Demograficznych, Skalą Satysfakcji z Życia (SWLS), Kwestionariuszem do Pomiaru Mocnych Stron Charakteru (IPIP-VIA).WynikiOsoby chore osiągnęły istotnie niższe od osób zdrowych wyniki pod względem takich mocnych stron, jak: nadzieja, humor, samoregulacja, przynależność, przywództwo, zdolność do kochania, życzliwość, inteligencja społeczno-emocjonalna, waleczność, pracowitość, spójność, werwa, ciekawość, pasja zdobywania wiedzy, szerokie horyzonty umysłowe oraz pod względem satysfakcji z życia. Nie odnotowano między zdrowymi i chorymi różnic w zakresie oryginalności, rozsądku, uczciwości, umiejętności przebaczania i okazywania litości, skromności i pokorze, roztropności, podziwie dla piękna, wdzięczności, duchowości. Istotne związki z satysfakcją z życia w grupie osób ze schizofrenią dotyczyły: poczucia wdzięczności, nadziei, humoru, duchowości, samoregulacji, zdolności do kochania, inteligencji społeczno-emocjonalnej, waleczności, werwy, oryginalności, ciekawości, rozsądku i szerokich horyzontów umysłowych. U osób zdrowych satysfakcja z życia wiązała się jedynie z nadzieją i zdolnością do kochania.WnioskiOsoby chore na schizofrenię różnią się od osób zdrowych pod względem 15 mocnych stron, których niższy poziom może tłumaczyć ich trudności w funkcjonowaniu społecznym. Są również mniej zadowolone ze swojego życia. Z przeżywaniem satysfakcji z życia u osób chorych wiąże się złożona konfiguracja mocnych stron. Być może mocne strony różniące osoby chore od zdrowych są istotniejsze w budowaniu zadowolenia z życia niż te, które są podobne.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the eating behaviors and social cognitive factors that affect fruit and vegetable consumption. Strategies to change, pros & cons, enjoyment, family support, and peer influence were measured in children ages 8–10 years both pre- and post- Zest Quest® program (pre: n = 82; post: n = 80). Children for a comparison group were selected from comparable elementary schools and pre- and post- measures were evaluated (pre: n = 92; post: n = 87). Chi-squared analyses were conducted on individual measures and Spearman correlations & linear regression were used for composite variables with fruit and vegetable consumption as the dependent variable. Results from the study demonstrated significant moderate correlations for fruit change strategies pre- (rs = 0.39) and post-intervention (rs = 0.33) and vegetable change strategies pre-intervention (rs = 0.42) in the Zest Quest® group. Peer influence (rs = 0.33) and enjoyment (rs = 0.38) showed significant moderate correlations with fruit intake in the comparison group. The regression analysis showed pros (β = 0.24, p value 0.05) and cons (β = 0.14, p value 0.05) to be significant predictors for fruit intake post-intervention in the Zest Quest® group. Prior to the intervention, strategies to change (β = 0.10, p value 0.02) was a significant predictor for fruit intake and cons (β = 0.15, p value = 0.03) for vegetable intake in this group. Family support and peer influence were not significant in the regression models, but demonstrated significance in the crude model. Eating behaviors and social cognitive factors may have an effect on fruit and vegetable consumption, but these measures are difficult to capture. Future research should continue exploring the impact of family support and peer influence on fruit and vegetable intake.

The current study examined the mediating role of gratitude in the relationship between zest for life and depression. A total of 326 undergraduate students were included in a cross-sectional study and responded to an online survey package. Structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood and bootstrapping with 5000 resamplings (95% confidence interval) supported that the relationship between zest for life and depression was fully mediated by gratitude. It can be claimed that zest for life affects students' depression inversely through gratitude. However, limitations of this cross-sectional study should be considered when interpreting the results. The practical implications were discussed.

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationship of thriving with self-development, career development initiatives and individual performance in the setting of information industry. The research is empirical in nature. Data has been collected through questionnaire from the librarians working at middle and top level positions in the academic and research libraries of Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi. A questionnaire was distributed through email and in person. SPSS (version 20) is used for descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. The findings revealed that workplace, having elements of zest and learning, can predict self-development, enhanced performance and career growth. The highest correlation was found between thriving and individual performance. The empirical result depicted that mostly information professionals working in libraries have their own personal career goals and they are continuously making efforts to extend their skills needed for future career growth. The study contributes to a better understanding of thriving at workplace by relating it to both theoretically and empirically important organizational and personal outcomes. Practically, the study will help leadership to pay more attention towards adding vitality and learning experience at workplace, evaluating the inter organizational skills inventory, devising stimulating training programs and making suitable adjustments for utilizing existing and extended competencies. Thriving has been considered a most recent concept in the positive organizational research and behavior movements. There are few studies discussing the conceptual ground of thriving at work place but very few empirical researches could be found in this context. Current study will be an addition to the scholarship of management, organizational behavior and information management by discussing thriving at work place and predicting its outcome among information professionals of Pakistan

Children exposed to domestic violence are at-risk for physical, mental, and social difficulties that have received an increased focus among researchers and policy makers. Using Snyder’s (2000) theory of Hope as a conceptual framework, Camp HOPE America is a summer camp program targeting school-aged children exposed to domestic violence. The purpose of this study is to present the changes in child hope before and after camp and correlate child hope to positive character strengths as rated by camp counselors. This study used a matched pretest posttest design to examine the change in hope, and strength of character among 229 school-aged children participating in Camp HOPE America. Results showed that hope, and psychological strengths improved from pre-test to post-test assessments. Additionally, children’s scores on hope were positively associated with the character strengths of zest, grit, self-control, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity obtained from counselor observations. These findings highlight hope as a coping resource for children exposed to domestic violence and provides preliminary support Camp HOPE America as an intervention within the established Family Justice Center system in the US.

We report on the development of the Social Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education (SEHS-HE), a multidimensional measure of covitality (the combinatorial effects of multiple positive psychological constructs). Scale development was carried out over 18 months involving five phases: conceptual grounding and item pool generation; cognitive interviews and item refinement; pilot survey and item reduction; structural validation survey and analyses; and, validity and stability analyses. Starting with a pool of 72 items, item selection and reduction was carried out using a sample of 771 college students. A second sample of 1,413 students (63.5 % female, mean age 20.0 years) completed the refined 48-item measure. Confirmatory factor analyses found acceptable fit for the SEHS-HE higher-order covitality latent structure. A final set of 36 items consisted of four latent traits (each comprised of three measured subscales): belief-in-self (subscales: self-efficacy, persistence, self-awareness), belief-in-others (subscales: family support, institutional support, peer support), emotional competence (subscales: cognitive reappraisal, empathy, self-regulation), and engaged living (subscales: gratitude, zest, optimism). Complete invariance was found for males and females with small effect size differences on latent mean scores. Evidence supported the SEHS-HE total score’s concurrent and predictive validity for students’ subjective well-being (r = .72, r = .65, respectively) and psychological distress (r = −.56, r = −.45, respectively). The 4-month stability coefficient for the SEHS-HE total score was .82, indicating it measures trait-like psychological constructs. The discussion focuses on the uses of the SEHS-HE in support of mental health programs, and refinement of the conceptual understanding of the covitality construct.

People&rsquo, s health assets (HA) mapping process and design dynamization strategies for it are paramount issues for health promotion. These strategies improve the health heritage of individuals and communities as both the salutogenic model of health (SMH) and health assets model (HAM) defend. Connecting and mobilizing HA and strengthens the &lsquo, sense of coherence&rsquo, (SOC) are both related to enhancing stress active and effective coping strategies. This study aims to describe the HA present in a population of certified nursing assistant students (n = 921) in Spain and then to explore their relationships with the SOC, the motivation to choose healthcare studies and their academic performance. A great variety of HA were identified and mapped. Findings showed that individuals with greater motivation towards self-care and &lsquo, caring for others&rsquo, as internal HA, possessed higher SOC levels and a strong vocation for healthcare work. Differences in HA were identified according to gender, age and employment situation. Consistent connections between the care&ndash, relation factor and vocational factor with interpersonal and extrapersonal HA were reported. Evidence and results substantiated the salutogenic and asset-based approach as a proper strategy to strengthen SOC, dynamize their HA map, reinforce the sense of calling and enable Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) students to buffer against caregiving-related stress and thrive in their profession.

The study compares the impact of character strengths-based positive interventions in a sample of 178 adults. An experimental group that trained strengths of the Values-in-Action classification that typically correlate highly with life satisfaction (curiosity, gratitude, hope, humor, and zest) was compared in its gain in life satisfaction with a group that trained strengths that usually demonstrate low correlations with life satisfaction (appreciation of beauty and excellence, creativity, kindness, love of learning, and perspective) and a wait-list control group. If pre and post measures in life satisfaction were compared, the group with the strengths most correlated with life satisfaction improved significantly (statistically) in their satisfaction in comparison to a control group. This could be interpreted as support for the idea that primarily those strengths that correlate highly with life satisfaction should be addressed in strengths-based interventions. When asked for subjective ratings of well-being after the interventions concluded, participants in both intervention groups indicated gains above that of a wait-listed control group. Further analyses underscore the special role of self-regulation in facilitating success in the interventions. Overall, the data underline the potential of strength-based interventions for improving human well-being.