Assessing character strengths in hungary: exploring factor structure and reliability of VIA-IS-M

TL;DR

This study validates a revised character strengths questionnaire in Hungary, showing it is reliable and useful for measuring positive traits.

Contribution

The study provides the first validation of the VIA-IS-M questionnaire in the Hungarian context.

Findings

The VIA-IS-M-H showed acceptable reliability after modifications to some scales.

Character strengths predicted well-being and mental health outcomes effectively.

A 3-factor structure was supported by exploratory factor analysis.

Abstract

Character strengths are a prevalent topic of positive psychology research. Recently, the questionnaires suitable for measuring the 24 character strengths (VIA-IS) have been revised. This new version, called VIA-IS-R, has a briefer form, the 96-item VIA-IS-M. Despite the widespread usage and measurement of the character strengths, the revised version of the questionnaire has yet to be utilised in Hungary. Therefore, the study aimed to test and validate the VIA-IS-M questionnaire in the Hungarian context.

We conducted four online studies on different adult samples, with 1878 participants in total. In addition to character strengths, satisfaction with life, well-being, burnout, and mental health were measured to analyse criterion validity.

In Study 1, the internal consistency of the scales was low in some cases (Gratitude, Judgment, Kindness). After modification, reliabilities were acceptable in the following studies. Weak-to-moderate correlations were observed between character strengths and criterion variables, consistent with prior expectations. Character strengths were used as predictor variables in the regression models, and they demonstrated sufficient predictive power for all the criterion variables in all studies (R2 = 0.43-71). According to exploratory factor analysis, 3-factor solutions were suitable for the data and aligned with recent studies on character strengths’ factor structure.

Overall, the VIA-IS-M-H demonstrates acceptable reliability and validity levels and is suitable for assessing character strengths in the Hungarian context.

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