Signature Strengths and Virtues

Martin Seligman

“Martin Seligman is a pioneer of Positive Psychology (the term itself was coined by Abraham Maslow), not simply because he has a systematic theory about why happy people are happy, but because he uses the scientific method to explore it. Through the use of exhaustive questionnaires, Seligman found that the most satisfied, upbeat people were those who had discovered and exploited their unique combination of “signature strengths,” such as humanity, temperance and persistence. This vision of happiness combines the virtue ethics of Confucius, Mencius and Aristotle with modern psychological theories of motivation.”

–Mark Setton [The Pursuit of Happiness website, History of Happiness, Martin Seligman].

Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness

“So this book is about experiencing your present, past, and future optimally, about discovering your signature strengths, and then about using them often in all endeavors that you value. Importantly, a “happy” individual need not experience all or even most of the positive emotions and gratifications.
A meaningful life adds one more component to the good life–the attachment of your signature strengths to something larger. So, beyond happiness, this book is meant as a preface to the meaningful life.
The meaningful life: using your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are.
Finally, a full life consists in experiencing positive emotions about the past and future, savoring positive feelings from the pleasures, deriving abundant gratification from your signature strengths, and using these strengths in the service of something larger to obtain meaning.”

–Mark Setton [The Pursuit of Happiness website, History of Happiness, Martin Seligman].

The Good Life: Embodying the 6 Virtues & Cultivating the 24 Strengths

The strengths and virtues… function against misfortune and against the psychological disorders, and they may be the key to building resilience (Seligman 2002, p. xiv).

Virtues

One notable contribution that Seligman has made for Positive Psychology is his cross-cultural study to create an “authoritative classification and measurement system for the human strengths”. He and Dr. Christopher Peterson, a top expert in the field of hope and optimism, worked to create a classification system that would help psychologists measure positive psychology’s effectiveness. They used good character to measure its efficacy because good character was so consistently and strongly linked to lasting happiness. In order to remain true to their efforts to create a universal classification system, they made a concerted effort to examine and research a wide variety of religious and philosophical texts from all over the world (Seligman 2002, p. 132).

They were surprised to find 6 particular virtues that were valued in almost every culture, valued in their own right (not just as a means to another end) and are attainable.

These 6 core virtues are:

1. Wisdom and knowledge
2. Courage
3. Humanity
4. Justice
5. Temperance
6. Transcendence

“We were searching for universals, strengths endorsed by every religion, politics, and culture. It turned out that there was a lot of agreement across history and culture….We eventually narrowed the list down to 24 strengths, and then we grouped the strengths, somewhat arbitrarily, under six virtues: Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence.
This was only half of what Chris accomplished during his 3-year stint at Penn studying virtue.
The other half was empirical. Chris created questionnaires, and he was a statistician. So using
these skills, he created the VIA (Values in Action) Signature Strengths Test.3 There are 10 items
for each of the 24 strengths, and the VIA asks you to rate how closely each item describes you.
This results in a rank order of your strengths, and it tells you what your five highest strengths are.”

— Martin E.P. Seligman [Positive Psychology: A Personal History, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2019].

Strengths

For Seligman, the strengths are the “route” through we achieve virtues in our life.

Seligman clarifies the difference between talents and strengths by defining strengths as moral traits that can be developed, learned, and that take effort. Talents, on the other hand, tend to be inherent and can only be cultivated from what exists rather than what develops through effort (Seligman 2002, p. 134). For example, many people consider musical ability as more or less inherent and can only be strengthened. On the other hand, one can cultivate the strength of patience, which can lead to the virtue of temperance.

Seligman provides a detailed classification of the different virtues as well as a strengths survey that is available on his website: www.authentichappiness.org.

Seligman sees the healthy exercise and development of strengths and virtues as a key to the good life – a life in which one uses one’s “signature strengths every day in the main realms of your life to bring abundant gratification and authentic happiness.” The good life is a place of happiness, good relationships and work, and from this point, Seligman encourages people to go further to seek a meaningful life in the continual quest for happiness (Seligman 2002, p. 161).

–Mark Setton [The Pursuit of Happiness website, History of Happiness, Martin Seligman].

Wisdom and Knowledge

One of the six classes of virtues that are made up of the 24 character strengths is Wisdom and Knowledge, defined by Peterson and Seligman as: “knowledge hard fought for, and then used for good.”

–Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman [Character Strengths and Virtues (2004)] p. 39.

Wisdom and Knowledge is a class of virtue that is made up of the following six character strengths: creativity; curiosity; open-mindedness; love of learning; and perspective.

Each of these strengths exists in every person to some degree. They also can increase in prominence as you learn to use them more. These strengths are part of a larger list consisting of twenty-four.

You can learn about all 24 of your character strengths and see how each rank. Here are two resources:

Read Seligman’s (2011) book, Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Beginning on p. 243 of the appendix, you can take a condensed version of the VIA character strengths test.
Visit ViaCharacter.org.

After you discover your top five strengths (the ones you use most often), take a look at your bottom five. These represent the strengths you don’t use as often. Some consider these weaknesses, but this isn’t necessarily true. They could be areas you don’t think much about or don’t value. For example, are you an Atheist? If so, then spirituality might be in your bottom five.

You use the strengths in the middle on an “as needed” basis. For example, if leadership is in the middle of your list, what situations call it forth? Do you use it when no one else will “step up,” and you feel the situation is important?

Revisit your results. Where do the five “wisdom” strengths fall in your list?

Wisdom/Knowledge includes some of the most dominant character strengths (VIA Character Institute, 2015).

–Kori Miller [Positive Psychology Program blog, The 5 Character Strengths of Wisdom in Positive Psychology].

Martin E. P. Seligman, Flourish

“I used to think that the topic of positive psychology was happiness, that the gold standard for measuring happiness was life satisfaction, and that the goal of positive psychology was to increase life satisfaction. I now think that the topic of positive psychology is well-being, that the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing, and that the goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing. This theory, which I call well-being theory, is very different from authentic happiness theory, and the difference requires explanation.”

–Martin E.P. Seligman [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being].

What is Flourishing? A Definition and History

Flourishing is one of the most important and promising topics studied in positive psychology. Not only does it relate to many other positive concepts, it holds the key to improving the quality of life for people around the world. Discovering the pieces to the flourishing puzzle and learning how to effectively apply research findings to real life has tremendous implications for the way we live, love, and relate to one another.

Flourishing moves beyond the confines of simple happiness or well-being; it encompasses a wide range of positive psychological constructs and offers a more holistic perspective on what it means to feel well and happy. According to the “founding father” of flourishing, Dr. Martin Seligman, flourishing is the result of paying careful attention to building and maintaining the five aspects of the PERMA model.

The PERMA model is a model Seligman developed to explain what contributes to a sense of flourishing. The five factors in this model are:

Positive emotions
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishments

–Martin Seligman [PERMA model, 2011].

Using this model as our framework, we can understand flourishing as the state that we create when we tend to each aspect of the PERMA model: increasing our positive emotions, engaging with the world and our work (or hobbies), develop deep and meaningful relationships, find meaning and purpose in our lives, and achieve our goals through cultivating and applying our strengths and talents. To flourish is to find fulfillment in our lives, accomplishing meaningful and worthwhile tasks, and connecting with others at a deeper level—in essence, living the “good life” (Seligman, 2011).

Positive psychologist and professor Dr. Lynn Soots (n.d.) describes flourishing as the following:

“Flourishing is the product of the pursuit and engagement of an authentic life that brings inner joy and happiness through meeting goals, being connected with life passions, and relishing in accomplishments through the peaks and valleys of life.”

Soots is careful to note that flourishing is not a trait or a characteristic; it’s not something that you “either have or don’t have.” She states that flourishing is not a static, immutable piece of who you are, it is a process that requires action. Anyone can flourish, but it will likely require some effort to get there.

The idea of flourishing as a separate—but intimately related—concept from happiness and well-being began long ago, but was formally proposed by Dr. Seligman in the early years of positive psychology. Seligman initially believed that happiness was composed of three factors: positive emotions, engagement, and meaning. However, after looking closer at the research on happiness, he discovered that some important factors were missing from the overarching sense of the “good life” that he was trying to define.

After doing some digging, he identified the two components that were missing: accomplishments (or the need for achievement) and relationships.

Once Seligman identified these last two pieces to the puzzle, he put forth his PERMA model, proposing that each of these five components are:

Foundations of human wellbeing.
Integral to flourishing/living the good life.
Sought for their own sake rather than in service of a greater goal (2011)

Since Seligman proposed his PERMA model and theory of flourishing, the term quickly took positive psychology by storm. In the relatively short time period between Seligman’s proposal and today, hundreds of researchers have explored flourishing from a broad range of perspectives.

–Courtney Ackerman [Flourishing in Positive Psychology: Definition + 8 Practical Tips (PDF)] pp. 3-6.

The Future Of Positive Psychology

“Positive studies are spreading widely. I am pleased by the quality of peer-reviewed science, but I am bowled over by the quantity. Reuben Rusk and Lea Waters (2013) quantified the spread of Positive Psychology within psychology and across other fields as of 2012. In 1992, there were 216 Positive Psychology–related articles published, and this number steadily grew through 2011 (the last year they researched), when there were 2,300 articles, a 10- fold increase. This growing influence is not confined to the discipline of psychology, but it has also spread to psychiatry, neuroscience, health, and business…. This tells me that Positive Psychology is not a fad, but that its popularity speaks to a deeper yearning for human knowledge. The real fad was to work only on the negative: to attempt to understand and correct all that had gone wrong in the hope that the better angels would then soar automatically once the demons had been slain. Whereas what is really needed is to build the good along with correcting the bad.

The future of this field may, in my highest hopes, take form outside academia. The impulse to build what is positive in life, to build temples yet undone, is by no means confined to the university. There is a moral vacuum in religious and secular morality and in our politics. Toward what might the moral compass point? What principle is grand enough and believable enough to live one’s life around? To center politics and religion around?

I believe that well-being, in the sense of PERMA, is where the moral compass points, and it is sufficiently grand and believable (Layard 2016). What is it that every culture, every religion, every politics agrees upon? What is it that every parent wants for their children? What can almost everyone say yes to? We can all say yes to more positive emotion. We can all say yes to being more engaged at work, with those we love, and in leisure. We can all say yes to better relationships with our fellow human beings, our fellow animals, and our planet. We can all say yes to more meaning in life. And we can all say yes to more noble accomplishment….”

— Martin E.P. Seligman [Positive Psychology: A Personal History, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2019].

Spirituality Imagination Retreat [Excerpt]

Spirituality Imagination Retreat, August 19-22, 2017, Uluru, Australia.

“The story one tells of the future creates their present” is the key point that Jim Hovey, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Eisenhower Fellowships, took from his experiences attending this and other Imagination Institute events. Much of Seligman’s scientific contributions, especially in the areas of optimism and prospection, demonstrate this point. [Tom] Bradley pointed out that continuing to look to the future takes courage. On the last day of the conversations, he shared the line – almost as an admonishment – to “sing songs of courage of being led by the heart.”

So, what insights about the future of religion and spirituality emerged from this unique group at this ancient religious site? There were some concrete descriptions from the scientific side and some inspiring insights from the religious.

Seligman spoke from the perspective of the scientific worldview, citing a number of studies that demonstrate three major changes afoot in the world:

1. There is less suffering in the world.
2. There is more well-being in the world.
3. We are future-minded beings.

For Martin E. P. Seligman, the upshot of these insights amounts to a 500-year idea – that the “political-religious-spiritual yearning” felt by many today can be filled by working to promote human flourishing. That is, people can gain a sense of meaning by helping to promote well-being in other people.

Krista Tippett spoke for the religious worldview. She mentioned three key insights that might help to foster, as she said earlier in the conversations, “spiritual evolution.” She thought that we ought to:

1. Bring the best of our respective traditions forward.
2. Include insights from psychology and neuroscience.
3. Try to rise to our better selves.

–David B. Yaden [Spirituality Imagination Retreat, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, For the Imagination Institute].

Additional Martin E. P. Seligman Quotes

“I did not choose positive psychology. It called me. It was what I wanted from the very first, but experimental psychology and then clinical psychology were the only games in town that were even close to what was calling me. I have no less mystical way to put it. Vocation–being called to act rather than choosing to act–is an old word, but it is a real thing. Positive psychology called to me just as the burning bush called to Moses.”

–Martin E.P. Seligman [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being] p. 75.

“I believe that it is within our capacity that by the year 2051 that 51 percent of the human population will be flourishing. That is my charge.”

–Martin E. P. Seligman [Flourish: a Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being] p. 240.

“Being in touch with what we do well underpins the readiness to change,” David* continued. “This is related to the Losada ratio. To enable us to hear criticism nondefensively and to act creatively on it, we need to feel secure.”

*David Cooperrider, the co-founder of Appreciative Inquiry.

–Martin E.P. Seligman [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being] p. 73.

“I think you can be depressed and flourish, I think you can have cancer and flourish, I think you can be divorced and flourish. When we believed that happiness was only smiling and good mood, that wasn’t very good for people like me, people in the lower half of positive affectivity.”

–Martin E.P. Seligman [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being].