6.5 Establishing Self-Awareness

VIA: The 24 Character Strengths

In the early 2000s, something groundbreaking occurred in the social sciences: Scientists discovered a common language of 24 character strengths that make up what’s best about our personality. Everyone possesses all 24 character strengths to different degrees, so each person has a unique character strengths profile. Each character’s strength falls under one of these six broad virtue categories, universal across cultures and nations (VIA, n.d.).

The VIA Survey, developed by renowned psychologist Christopher Peterson, Ph.D and recently revised by Dr. Robert McGrath, VIA’s Senior Scientist, is a 96- 96-question, scientifically validated questionnaire that provides a rank order of an adult’s 24 character strengths. The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, and descriptive results and in-depth reports are available upon completion.

After completing the VIA Survey, you will have greater insight into the best qualities of your personality, such as your character strengths. These characteristics make you feel authentic, contribute to your successes and help you lead a happy, meaningful life.

“Establishing Self-Awareness” from JumpStart: A Support Program For Success Copyright © 2022 by University of Windsor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Used section VIA: The 24 Character Strengths.