What Are Character Strengths and Virtues?
Character strengths are positive capacities expressed in how we think, feel, and act. The VIA classification organizes 24 character strengths under six broader virtues. A virtue groups related strengths, while a character strength describes a more specific capacity that can appear in everyday life. This map shows how they fit together and links each symbol to its article.
Wisdom
Strengths involved in exploring ideas, learning, and making thoughtful use of knowledge.
Courage
Strengths that support worthwhile action when difficulty, fear, or obstacles arise.
Humanity
Strengths expressed in caring, close relationships, and understanding other people.
Justice
Strengths that help people contribute to groups and treat one another fairly.
Temperance
Strengths that help us manage impulses and respond with proportion and care.
Transcendence
Strengths that connect everyday experience with appreciation, possibility, and a wider sense of meaning.
How to Use This Map
Choose a strength that interests you and select its symbol to read the article. Then recall a situation in which that capacity appeared in your own behavior or someone else’s. The order of these groups is not a ranking of importance or a judgment of character, and the virtues do not divide people into six personality types. Strengths from different virtues can work together: leadership may draw on humility and social intelligence as well as fairness and teamwork.
Symbol credit
Original character-strength symbols in this series © VIA Institute on Character. This map uses the original VIA symbols in blue. Map layout and Arabic text were prepared for Biri Publishing.
References
- Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press.
- VIA Institute on Character. (n.d.). The 24 character strengths. https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths
