Blog #57 – Character strengths – Part 5 So, you’ve completed the VIA character strengths questionnaire – now what? Once you do the questionnaire online, you will receive immediate results ranking how you fared on the individual strengths contained within the classification, from #1 (your top strength) to #24 (the strength you scored…
Blog #56 – Character strengths – Part 4 Last time, we detailed 12 of the 24 character strengths eventually deemed eligible for inclusion in the VIA classification. Those strengths were assigned to three of the six core virtues identified earlier in the process as being valued across cultures in different parts of the world –…
Blog #55 – Character strengths – Part 3 Having done the necessary background work over the last two entries, today we will begin to detail the strengths deemed to have met the necessary criteria for inclusion in the VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues. As mentioned previously, the preliminary work identified six…
Blog #54 – Character strengths – Part 2 Last time, we began talking about positive psychology and the formal study of character strengths, with specific reference to the VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues. We described how Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman took on the challenge of creating this classification, and over a…
Blog #53 – Character strengths – Part 1 As positive psychology developed in its early years, one of the first areas it homed in on was that of cultivating character strengths. This should not surprise, as it is logical that a movement with an explicit focus on what goes right in life, and cultivating happiness…
Blog #52 – Mindfulness – Part 5 In recent weeks, we have focused on mindfulness, with an emphasis on looking at research evidence pointing to its potential well-being benefits among diverse populations. However, as alluded to briefly last time, not all researchers and mental health professionals are necessarily eager to roll the red carpet out…
Blog #51 – Mindfulness – Part 4 In recent posts, we have highlighted the potential usefulness of mindfulness as it relates to cultivating well-being. These benefits can be seen across a range of different settings. Last time, we highlighted research findings indicating positive results with school-going adolescents; today, we will showcase the impact of…
Blog #50 – Mindfulness In our most recent sequence of posts, we began by highlighting the desirability of cultivating a sense of being present in the moment, as opposed to falling prey to the all-too human tendency to ruminate on the past and obsess over the future at the expense of living in the here…
Blog #49 – Mindfulness As highlighted last time, Jon Kabat-Zinn has become the primary face and name attached to the introduction and popularisation of what we call mindfulness in the Western world. As such, he has developed one of the most used mindfulness-based approaches – Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The three key components of this…
Blog #48 – Mindfulness In recent posts, we have been focusing on conscious awareness and our tendency in the modern world to spend more time in a kind of auto-pilot state on a day-to-day basis than is necessarily healthy. In highlighting this tendency, we identified the desirability of cultivating conscious awareness, but acknowledged the difficulty…