Connect individual strengths to the broader virtues they serve
Understand which of the six VIA virtues your signature strengths express, and what that reveals about your character.
Why it works
Peterson and Seligman organized the 24 strengths under six broader virtues (wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, transcendence). This structure matters because it reveals the character orientation behind the strengths: two people might both have high creativity, but one’s creativity serves wisdom (original ideas) and another’s serves humanity (relational artistry). Virtue-level awareness creates a more integrated self-understanding than strength profiles alone and anchors character development in the longer tradition of virtue ethics.
How to do it
- Identify which of the six virtues most of your signature strengths cluster under.
- Read the classical definition of that virtue (e.g., Aristotle on courage, Aquinas on temperance). Does it ring true as a character orientation for you?
- Identify the virtue most underrepresented in your profile. Choose one practice from that virtue to work on for a month.
- Return to the strength profile after a year of character development and notice what has shifted.
Evidence
Virtue ethics as a framework for character development has a 2,500-year history. Peterson and Seligman’s empirical classification is a modernization of that tradition; the six virtues show reasonable cross-cultural consistency. (observational)
The six-virtue categorization is a theoretical organization; cluster structure varies somewhat across cultures and the boundaries between virtues are fuzzy.
Sources
- Peterson & Seligman (2004), Character Strengths and Virtues (APA/Oxford University Press)
- Dahlsgaard, Peterson & Seligman (2005), "Shared virtue: the convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history," Review of General Psychology
Common mistake
Using the strengths profile as a personality descriptor rather than as a character development tool — the virtues framing reminds you that strengths are for cultivation, not just identification.
Practice this with IX Coach
7 days free, then $40/month (~$1.30/day).
More practices for VIA Character Strengths, Made Practical
- Take the VIA survey and identify your signature strengths
Discover your top five to seven character strengths using the validated VIA survey.
- Use a signature strength in a new way each day for one week
Apply one of your top character strengths to a context or relationship where you don’t normally use it.
- Spot and name character strengths in others
Notice and explicitly name the character strengths you observe in people around you.
- Map how your strengths distort under stress
Identify the "overuse" and "underuse" of each signature strength — how they show up when you’re at your worst.
- Set goals that build on your signature strengths
Design goals that let your top strengths be the primary vehicle rather than your weak spots.
- Apply strengths consciously in your most important relationships
Identify how your signature strengths are showing up — or failing to show up — in the relationships that matter most.
Related concepts
- Positive Psychology, Made Practical
PERMA and the well-being exercises, graded honestly on the evidence
- Broaden-and-Build, Made Practical
Using positive emotions not just as rewards but as resources that build lasting psychological strength
- Self-Determination Theory, Made Usable
The three needs that make motivation self-sustaining