A Summary of Construct Validity Evidence for Two Measures of Character Strengths

Figures & data

Table 1. The VIA classification of character strengths and virtues.

Original virtue	Character strength
Wisdom	Creativity^a [originality, ingenuity]
& Knowledge	Curiosity^a [interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience]
	Judgment & Open-Mindedness^a [critical thinking]
	Love of Learning^a
	Perspective [wisdom]
Courage	Bravery^a [valor]
	Perseverance^b [persistence, industriousness]
	Honesty^b [authenticity, integrity]
	Zest^a [vitality, enthusiasm, vigor, energy]
Humanity	Capacity to Love and Be Loved^c
	Kindness^c [generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, "niceness"]
	Social Intelligence [emotional intelligence, personal intelligence]
Justice	Teamwork^c [citizenship, social responsibility, loyalty]
	Fairness^c
	Leadership
Temperance	Forgiveness & Mercy^c
	Modesty & Humility
	Prudence^b
	Self-Regulation^b [self-control]
Transcendence	Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence [awe, wonder, elevation]
	Gratitude^c
	Hope [optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation]
	Humor [playfulness]
	Religiousness & Spirituality [faith, purpose]

Note. Adapted from Peterson and Seligman (2004, pp. 29–30). Copyright 2004 by the Values in Action Institute. Adapted with permission. Terms in brackets are variants of the character strength according to Peterson and Seligman (2004).

^a Unique marker of the evidence-based Inquisitiveness virtue (McGrath et al., 2018).

^b Unique marker of the evidence-based Self-Control virtue (McGrath et al., 2018).

^c Unique marker of the evidence-based Caring virtue (McGrath et al., 2018).

Table 2. Mean internal reliability values across samples.

	VIA-IS-R		VIA-IS-M		VIA-IS-P		GACS-72
Strength/Virtue	α	ω	α	ω	α	ω	α	ω	GACS-24
Beauty	.85	.86	.76	.77	.82	.82	.88	.89	.79
Bravery	.81	.81	.73	.74	.72	.74	.82	.83	.71
Creativity	.88	.89	.80	.80	.81	.82	.86	.86	.73
Curiosity	.83	.83	.75	.76	.73	.74	.84	.84	.74
Fairness	.83	.83	.72	.72	.80	.80	.82	.82	.72
Forgiveness	.81	.82	.71	.72	.71	.72	.85	.85	.72
Gratitude	.82	.82	.70	.72	.80	.81	.86	.86	.73
Honesty	.78	.77	.75	.75	.68	.70	.81	.81	.75
Hope	.87	.87	.78	.78	.78	.78	.87	.87	.75
Humility	.78	.79	.61	.63	.63	.64	.83	.83	.71
Humor	.85	.84	.72	.70	.83	.84	.88	.88	.83
Judgment	.75	.75	.57	.59	.66	.67	.81	.81	.74
Kindness	.82	.82	.72	.72	.75	.75	.83	.84	.74
Leadership	.85	.86	.70	.70	.83	.84	.88	.89	.81
Learning	.85	.85	.81	.81	.77	.77	.85	.85	.73
Love	.91	.91	.84	.85	.80	.83	.86	.86	.75
Perseverance	.89	.89	.77	.78	.82	.84	.81	.82	.76
Perspective	.79	.79	.72	.73	.79	.80	.82	.82	.70
Prudence	.85	.85	.72	.72	.80	.80	.83	.84	.77
Self-Regulation	.86	.87	.76	.77	.78	.78	.80	.81	.73
Social Intelligence	.81	.81	.74	.74	.73	.74	.86	.87	.80
Spirituality	.87	.88	.84	.85	.82	.84	.92	.92	.82
Teamwork	.85	.86	.77	.79	.71	.72	.87	.87	.78
Zest	.88	.88	.83	.83	.84	.84	.88	.88	.82
Wisdom	.81	.81	.71	.71	.78	.78
Courage	.79	.79	.70	.71	.79	.78
Humanity	.82	.83	.62	.62	.78	.80
Justice	.78	.79	.68	.73	.72	.72
Temperance	.77	.76	.68	.68	.63	.66
Transcendence	.82	.82	.82	.82	.79	.80
Caring	.76	.74	.79	.82	.72	.71
Inquisitiveness	.83	.83	.76	.76	.79	.78
Self-Control	.87	.87	.75	.77	.76	.78

Note. Entries are the mean internal reliability value across five samples (for strength scales on the VIA-IS-R) or four samples (for all others) weighted by sample size. Unweighted means were also computed and never differed from the values presented by more than .05, and the mean difference was < .01. VIA-IS-R = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised; VIA-IS-M = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Mixed; VIA-IS-P = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Positive; GACS-72 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-72; GACS-24 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-24.

Table 3. Summary of alternate versions reliability within samples.

Strength/Virtue	VIA-IS-R/M/P	GACS-72/24
Beauty	.90	.91
Bravery	.86	.84
Creativity	.90	.86
Curiosity	.84	.88
Fairness	.88	.87
Forgiveness	.79	.87
Gratitude	.87	.88
Honesty	.83	.86
Hope	.90	.88
Humility	.81	.87
Humor	.88	.91
Judgment	.79	.86
Kindness	.86	.87
Leadership	.90	.91
Learning	.79	.88
Love	.91	.87
Perseverance	.91	.85
Perspective	.87	.86
Prudence	.90	.88
Self-Regulation	.91	.85
Social Intelligence	.86	.90
Spirituality	.91	.93
Teamwork	.92	.90
Zest	.92	.90
Wisdom	.95
Courage	.81
Humanity	.90
Justice	.90
Temperance	.81
Transcendence	.85
Caring	.85
Inquisitiveness	.92
Self-Control	.93

Note. Entries are the mean alternative versions reliability across four samples (for all others) weighted by sample size. Unweighted means were also computed and never differed from the values presented by more than .01. VIA-IS-R/M/P = VIA-IS-Revised, -Mixed, and -Positive; GACS-72/24 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-72 and -24; VD = VIA Derivation sample; VC = VIA Cross-Validation Sample; MC = Mechanical Turk Cross-Validation sample; QR = Qualtrics Representative sample.

Table 4. Tests of scale unidimensionality across samples.

	VIA-IS-R		VIA-IS-M		VIA-IS-P		GACS-72
Strength	SRMR	CFI	SRMR	CFI	SRMR	CFI	SRMR	CFI
Beauty	[.04, .06]	[.97, 1.00]	[.01, .07]	[.95, 1.00]	[.01, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Bravery	[.06, .08]	[.95, .97]	[.03, .08]	[.95, .99]	[.00, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Creativity	[.03, .06]	[.98, 1.00]	[.00, .05]	[.98, 1.00]	[.02, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Curiosity	[.04, .08]	[.95, .99]	[.01, .03]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Fairness	[.05, .07]	[.97, .98]	[.02, .03]	[.99, 1.00]	[.02, .05]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Forgiveness	[.04, .06]	[.97, .99]	[.02, .04]	[.98, 1.00]	[.01, .03]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Gratitude	[.06, .08]	[.95, .98]	[.01, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .01]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Honesty	[.06, .08]	[.95, .96]	[.01, .05]	[.98, 1.00]	[.00, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Hope	[.06, .06]	[.97, .99]	[.01, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .03]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Humility	[.06, .07]	[.95, .97]	[.01, .06]	[.96, 1.00]	[.01, .05]	[.95, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Humor	[.07, .09]	[.96, .96]	[.00, .01]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.01, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Judgment	[.05, .06]	[.96, .98]	[.01, .04]	[.97, 1.00]	[.03, .04]	[.98, .99]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Kindness	[.05, .06]	[.97, .99]	[.01, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.01, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Leadership	[.05, .08]	[.96, .99]	[.00, .05]	[.97, 1.00]	[.01, .03]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Learning	[.06, .07]	[.96, .99]	[.01, .07]	[.97, 1.00]	[.01, .03]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Love	[.06, .09]	[.97, .99]	[.03, .07]	[.98, 1.00]	[.01, .03]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Perseverance	[.04, .08]	[.98, 1.00]	[.02, .07]	[.96, 1.00]	[.01, .01]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Perspective	[.05, .07]	[.95, .99]	[.01, .05]	[.97, 1.00]	[.01, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Prudence	[.05, .07]	[.97, .99]	[.02, .05]	[.97, 1.00]	[.03, .05]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Self-Regulation	[.06, .09]	[.95, .98]	[.02, .03]	[.99, 1.00]	[.02, .05]	[.98, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Social Intell	[.06, .08]	[.96, .96]	[.01, .03]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Spirituality	[.05, .08]	[.97, .99]	[.00, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.02, .04]	[.99, 1.00]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Teamwork	[.08, .09]	[.96, .97]	[.01, .02]	[1.00, 1.00]	[.05, .07]	[.95, .97]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]
Zest	[.07, .08]	[.97, .98]	[.03, .05]	[.98, 1.00]	[.04, .09]	[.96, .99]	[.00, .00]	[1.00, 1.00]

Note. VIA-IS-R = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised; VIA-IS-M = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Mixed; VIA-IS-P = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Positive; GACS-72 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-72; CFI = comparative fit index; SRMR = squared root mean residual.

Table 5. Tests of measurement invariance across samples.

	Gender				Age
Strength	VIA-IS-R	VIA-IS-M	VIA-IS-P	GACS-72	VIA-IS-R	VIA-IS-M	VIA-IS-P	GACS-72
Beauty	0/0/0/4	0/1/0/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/2/2	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Bravery	0/0/2/2	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/2/2	0/0/2/2	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Creativity	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Curiosity	0/1/1/2	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	1/0/1/2	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Fairness	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Forgiveness	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Gratitude	0/1/0/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/1/0/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Honesty	0/1/0/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/2/2	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Hope	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Humility	0/2/0/2	0/1/0/3	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/2/0/2	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4
Humor	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Judgment	0/0/2/2	0/0/2/2	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Kindness	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Leadership	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Learning	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Love	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Perseverance	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Perspective	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Prudence	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Self-Regulation	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Social Intelligence	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Spirituality	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
Teamwork	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/1/0/3	0/0/0/4
Zest	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4	0/0/1/3	0/0/1/3	0/0/0/4	0/0/0/4
# < 3	4	1	0	0	4	2	0	0

Note. Entries are the number of samples demonstrating non-invariance/configural/metric/scalar invariance The bottom row is the number of strengths in that column where scalar invariance was demonstrated in less than three of the four samples. VIA-IS-R = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised; VIA-IS-M = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Mixed; VIA-IS-P = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Positive; GACS-72 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-72.

Table 6. External validity analyses across samples.

	VIA-IS-R		VIA-IS-M		VIA-IS-P		GACS-72		GACS-24
	Conv Val	Disk Val	Conv Val	Disk Val	Conv Val	Disk Val	Conv Val	Disk Val	Conv Val	Disk Val
Beauty	.67	0	.66	0	.67	0	.64	0	.60	0
Bravery	.51	0	.47	0	.49	0	.35	1	.33	1
Creativity	.66	1	.67	0	.66	0	.56	0	.55	0
Curiosity	.48	10	.52	5	.47	4	.44	4	.41	4
Fairness	.41	3	.39	4	.40	4	.34	1	.31	0
Forgiveness	.49	1	.47	0	.52	0	.48	0	.43	0
Gratitude	.67	6	.66	8	.66	15	.63	1	.57	1
Honesty	.45	2	.36	3	.42	0	.43	0	.39	0
Hope	.73	3	.75	0	.71	0	.61	0	.59	0
Humility	.36	0	.39	0	.35	0	.30	11	.29	3
Humor	.61	5	.61	0	.66	0	.65	0	.63	0
Judgment	.46	2	.42	3	.44	3	.35	1	.32	3
Kindness	.51	0	.48	0	.50	0	.45	1	.43	0
Leadership	.63	2	.62	0	.66	0	.59	0	.56	0
Learning	.58	0	.57	1	.59	0	.55	0	.50	0
Love	.60	0	.59	0	.62	0	.61	0	.56	0
Perseverance	.54	0	.52	0	.49	0	.49	0	.45	0
Perspective	.64	0	.62	0	.59	0	.51	0	.48	0
Prudence	.46	0	.44	0	.45	0	.33	0	.30	0
Self-Regulation	.51	0	.50	0	.46	2	.37	0	.35	0
Social Intelligence	.63	0	.64	0	.60	0	.50	0	.49	0
Spirituality	.64	0	.54	0	.62	0	.53	0	.52	0
Teamwork	.40	10	.43	9	.42	8	.43	10	.39	10
Zest	.76	0	.78	0	.76	0	.58	0	.57	0
# >0		11		7		6		8		6
M	.56	1.88	.55	1.38	.55	1.50	.49	1.25	.46	.92

Note. VIA-IS-R = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised; VIA-IS-M = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Mixed; VIA-IS-P = VIA Inventory of Strengths-Positive; GACS-72 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-72; GACS-24 = Global Assessment of Character Strengths-24; Conv Val = convergent validity; Disk Val = discriminant validity. Unweighted mean correlations were slightly larger on average, with a mean difference of .04.

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