Character Strengths Assessment And Application To Clinical Psychology

For the last half century clinical psychology exclusive focus on pathological correction, this focus has led an unbalanced research field, with research studying the negative aspects of life without considering the role of the positive aspects. In this context, positive psychology movement was launched. Calls have been made for balanced attention to the positive aspects of human development. A common vocabulary was created by positive psychologists. It was based on Aristotle's values, that is, happiness is activity in accordance with virtue. That was "a manual of the sanities"——Character Strengths and Virtues. Values in Action Inventory of Strengths(VIA-IS) is a self-report scales for 24 character strengths. Many countries and researchers are involved in the project of VIA-IS. Some researchers have begun to put this assessment tool localization and try to use it in clinical psychology. The purpose of this thesis is to study the adaptation and validation of the Chinese version of VIA-IS, the correlation between character strengths and negative and positive mental outcomes, and its practical application in group counseling and psychotherapy.The paper is composed of four parts:the first is the background and meaning, the second is theoretical research, the third is empirical research, the fourth is summary and outlook.The theoretical research consists of three sections. Firstly, the concept of character strengths was clarified. Character, strengths and character strengths were defined, and the 10 standards of character strengths were introduced. Secondly, the classification method and classification level of character strengths were presented. Positive psychology summarized high six virtues of human with scientific research from classic and modern ideas, then the six virtues were decomposed into 24 character strengths. Thirdly, the quantitative and qualitative assessment methods of character strengths were reviewed, the formation and application of the assessment scale (VIA-IS) were emphasized. On this basis, the research hypotheses were proposed:to identification, confirm, strengthen character strengths benefit mental health.The empirical research consists of five sub-sections. (1) the reliability and validation of the Chinese version of VIA-IS was studied, which was used by 1578 college students from three areas of China; (2) VIA-IS character strengths of 57 mental disorders were surveyed; (3) the correlations between character strengths and psychological outcomes were analyzed; (4) the experimental research with placebo control design on the application of character strengths in group counseling of college students; (5) cases analysis on the application of character strengths in consulting. The result shows:The Chinese version of VIA-IS proved to be a reliable and valid measure of the character strengths, it has a good reliability and validity of college students in China. Cronbach's a coefficients was 0.957 and Guttman Split-Half Coefficient coefficient was 0.961. the correlations within 24 character strengths were high and the correlations within those character strengths under same virtue were higher. Test-retest correlations for most of scales over 2-month period were substantial (> 0.7). Factor analysis extracted 5 factors and their accumulative total contribution was 73.010%. This result was similar to US and German but there were still some differences. Both respondents and their relatives and friends agreed the results of VIA-IS, especially to significant strengths. All scores of college students'24 character strengths were normally distributed but skewed to the right.57 inpatients in a mental hospital were selected and surveyed by VIA-IS. The results showed that most scores of character strengths of mental disorders were lower than college students but score of self-control was higher than college students.To assessment and conform character strengths in group counseling may promote mental health; in cases study, further analysis shows that character strengths are not the more the better, moderate is best. This is consistent with the idea of the Confucian's Golden Mean and of Aristotle's Mesotes.Character strengths are inherent in human nature and were saved as a way of overcoming difficulty during the long-term evolution. Character strengths can be measured by psychological methods. VIA-IS is a validated assessment tool and of great significance in both theory and practice. Chinese version of VIA-IS has high reliability and validity. Strengthening character strengths can improve mental health, but it is very important to master the proper degree when character strengths are used. It seems that acting according to the doctrine of the Gold Mean is conducive to mental health. We recommend that psychotherapist adopt a flexible approach of strengths assessment, incorporating both qualitative strategies and objective measures and integrating strengths with weaknesses. It is worthwhile further exploration on character strengths.