Abstract
Character education in the US aims to establish good habits corresponding to good character. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure of character strengths and the relations among these strengths and wellbeing in Japanese children and youth. Peterson and Seligman (2004) developed a classification of character strengths called VIA-IS. We thought, however, that VIA-IS had too many items to use with school children. We selected 15 categories and developed a questionnaire for Japanese children and youth. Fourth to eighth grade students (N = 1,351) answered questionnaires in Study 1. We found four categories of character strengths, each of which consisted of 25 items: perseverance-honesty, courage-ideas, compassion-gratitude, and fairness-care. These categories were very similar to previous research findings which simplified the categories. In Study 2, we found a positive relationship among four categories of character strengths and well-being, which we called the hope scale, life satisfaction scale, subjective happiness scale, and social support scale. We discussed what additional research was needed for establishing good habits using our categories with children and youth in schools.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 247-255 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Shinrigaku Kenkyu |
| Volume | 84 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2013 |
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Keywords
- Character education
- Character strengths
- Good habits
- Well-being
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
Cite this
Character strengths and well-being in Japanese children and youth : Creating good habits. / Imura, Tomoya; Aoki, Tazuko; Takahashi, Tomoko; Nonaka, Yoichiro; Yamada, Tsuyoshi.
In: Shinrigaku Kenkyu, Vol. 84, No. 3, 08.2013, p. 247-255.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Character strengths and well-being in Japanese children and youth
T2 - Creating good habits
AU - Imura, Tomoya
AU - Aoki, Tazuko
AU - Takahashi, Tomoko
AU - Nonaka, Yoichiro
AU - Yamada, Tsuyoshi
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Character education in the US aims to establish good habits corresponding to good character. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure of character strengths and the relations among these strengths and wellbeing in Japanese children and youth. Peterson and Seligman (2004) developed a classification of character strengths called VIA-IS. We thought, however, that VIA-IS had too many items to use with school children. We selected 15 categories and developed a questionnaire for Japanese children and youth. Fourth to eighth grade students (N = 1,351) answered questionnaires in Study 1. We found four categories of character strengths, each of which consisted of 25 items: perseverance-honesty, courage-ideas, compassion-gratitude, and fairness-care. These categories were very similar to previous research findings which simplified the categories. In Study 2, we found a positive relationship among four categories of character strengths and well-being, which we called the hope scale, life satisfaction scale, subjective happiness scale, and social support scale. We discussed what additional research was needed for establishing good habits using our categories with children and youth in schools.
AB - Character education in the US aims to establish good habits corresponding to good character. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure of character strengths and the relations among these strengths and wellbeing in Japanese children and youth. Peterson and Seligman (2004) developed a classification of character strengths called VIA-IS. We thought, however, that VIA-IS had too many items to use with school children. We selected 15 categories and developed a questionnaire for Japanese children and youth. Fourth to eighth grade students (N = 1,351) answered questionnaires in Study 1. We found four categories of character strengths, each of which consisted of 25 items: perseverance-honesty, courage-ideas, compassion-gratitude, and fairness-care. These categories were very similar to previous research findings which simplified the categories. In Study 2, we found a positive relationship among four categories of character strengths and well-being, which we called the hope scale, life satisfaction scale, subjective happiness scale, and social support scale. We discussed what additional research was needed for establishing good habits using our categories with children and youth in schools.
KW - Character education
KW - Character strengths
KW - Good habits
KW - Well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887900723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84887900723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4992/jjpsy.84.247
DO - 10.4992/jjpsy.84.247
M3 - Article
C2 - 24063151
AN - SCOPUS:84887900723
VL - 84
SP - 247
EP - 255
JO - Shinrigaku Kenkyu
JF - Shinrigaku Kenkyu
SN - 0021-5236
IS - 3
ER -