Shared Virtue

The Convergence of Valued Human Strengths across Culture and History

Bibliographic Data

ID5771877
AuthorsKatherine K Dahlsgaard (University of Pennsylvania), KATHERINE DAHLSGAARD (University of Pennsylvania), Christopher Peterson (0000-0003-1697-5702, University of Michigan, corresponding author), Martin E P Seligman (0000-0002-2028-0009, University of Pennsylvania)
Year2005
Volume9
Issue3
Pages203-213
Publication date2005-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of General Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1089-2680 • E-ISSN: 1939-1552
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1037/1089-2680.9.3.203
OpenAlexW2154405213
LanguageEN
Citations received125
References cited20

Positive psychology needs an agreed-upon way of classifying positive traits as a backbone for research, diagnosis, and intervention. As a 1st step toward classification, the authors examined philosophical and religious traditions in China (Confucianism and Taoism), South Asia (Buddhism and Hinduism), and the West (Athenian philosophy, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) for the answers each provided to questions of moral behavior and the good life. The authors found that 6 core virtues recurred in these writings: courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, and transcendence. This convergence suggests a nonarbitrary foundation for the classification of human strengths and virtues

Courage · Eastern religions · Taoism · Transcendence (philosophy · Cultural Differences and Values · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment