Character Strengths Scale-Brief: initial psychometric studies

Character strengths are positive human characteristics that indicate a happy and successful life. The objective was to select items for the Character Strengths Scale-Brief instrument and to identify its psychometric properties.

Method

Exploratory factor analysis and qualitative analysis of the items (Study 1) were performed in a database of 4,540 people who responded to the Character Strengths Scale (71 items). In Study 2, 1,014 participants responded to the Character Strengths Scale-Brief (48 items).

Results

The psychometric indices identified in the confirmatory factor analyses were unsatisfactory for the instrument when considering structures previously reported in the literature.

Conclusion

After successive analyses, the structure of two factors of first order was considered the most adequate for the Character Strengths Scale-Brief (18 items), with better fit indexes and theoretical relevance. The results were discussed in the light of the literature.

Keywords
Emotions; Optimism; Personality; Psychology, positive; Psychological tests

Authors	Instrument (Country)	ReM (RoM)	Nomenclatures (Number of strengths grouped)	Factor strengths
Azañedo et al. (2014)Azañedo, C. M., Fernández-Abascal, E. G., & Barraca, J. (2014). Character strengths in Spain: Validation of the Value is in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) in a Spanish sample. Clínica y Salud, 25(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clysa.2014.06.002 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clysa.2014.06.... ^a a Principal component analysis;	VIA-IS (Spain)	PA (Varimax)	Emotional strengths (6)	Humor, emotional intelligence, common sense, creativity, leadership and bravery
			Interpersonal strengths (5)	Impartiality, modesty, kindness, teamwork, and forgiveness
			Restriction strengths (5)	Self-regulation, persistence, critical thinking, authenticity and prudence
			Theological strengths (5)	Spirituality, gratitude, vitality, hope and love
			Intellectual strengths (3)	Love of learning, appreciation of beauty and curiosity
Littman-Ovadia and Lavy (2012)Littman-Ovadia, H., & Lavy, S. (2012). Character strengths in Israel Hebrew adaptation of the VIA Inventory of Strengths. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 28(1), 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000089 https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a00008... ^a a Principal component analysis;	VIA-IS (Israel)	KG (Varimax)	Restriction strengths (7)	Persistence, authenticity, bravery, common sense, critical thinking, self-regulation and prudence
			Intellectual strengths (4)	Love of learning, vitality, creativity and curiosity
			Emotional strengths (5)	Love, emotional intelligence, kindness, leadership and humor
			Interpersonal strengths (4)	Forgiveness, teamwork, modesty and impartiality
			Theological strengths (4)	Spirituality, Gratitude, Appreciation of Beauty, and Hope
Martínez-Marti and Ruch (2016)^a a Principal component analysis;	VIA-IS (Germany, Switzerland, Liechtensteiner and Austria)	KG (Varimax)	Restriction strengths (5)	Critical thinking, wisdom, persistence, prudence and self-regulation
			Intellectual strengths (5)	Creativity, curiosity, love of learning, bravery and appreciation of the beautiful
			Emotional strengths (5)	Vitality, love, emotional intelligence, humor and hope
			Interpersonal strengths (7)	Authenticity, kindness, teamwork, leadership, impartiality, forgiveness, and modesty
			Theological strengths (2)	Spirituality and gratitude
McGrath (2014)McGrath, R. E. (2014). Scale- and item-level factor analyses of the VIA Inventory of Strengths. Assessment, 21(1), 4-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112450612 https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112450612... ^a a Principal component analysis;	VIA-IS (United States)	PA and MAP (Varimax and Promax)	Restriction strengths (5)	Prudence, persistence, self-regulation, critical thinking and authenticity
			Intellectual strengths (3)	Love of learning, appreciation of beauty and curiosity
			Emotional strengths (5)	Emotional intelligence, humor, bravery, creativity and common sense
			Interpersonal strengths (6)	Impartiality, kindness, teamwork, modesty, leadership, and forgiveness
			Theological strengths (5)	Vitality, hope, gratitude, spirituality and love
^ Authors tried to approximate the structure proposed by Peterson and Seligman (2004). Noronha and Batista (2020a)Noronha, A. P. P., & Batista, H. H. V. (2020a). Análise da estrutura interna da Escala de Forças de Caráter. Ciências Psicológicas, 14(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v14i1.2150 https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v14i1.2150... ^b b Exploratory Factor Analysis;	CSS (Brazil)	PA, MAP and Hull (Promin)	Interpersonal strengths (5)	Humor, love, emotional intelligence, authenticity and appreciation of beauty
			Courage strengths (7)	Judgment, critical thinking, leadership, teamwork, prudence, bravery and creativity
			Theological strengths (4)	Spirituality, gratitude, perseverance and hope
			Humanity strengths (3)	Impartiality, kindness and modesty
			Autoregulation strengths (3)	Self-regulation, vitality and forgiveness
			Intellectual strengths (2)	Love of learning and curiosity
Neto et al. (2014)^a a Principal component analysis; ^,^b b Exploratory Factor Analysis;	SRCS (Portugal)	KG (Varimax)	Interpersonal strengths (8)	Kindness, love, vitality, teamwork, authenticity, gratitude, impartiality and humor
			Leadership strengths (7)	Leadership, persistence, bravery, common sense, creativity, emotional intelligence and spirituality
			Temperance strengths (6)	Self-regulation, prudence, appreciation of beauty, modesty, hope and forgiveness
			Intellectual strengths (3)	Curiosity, love of learning and critical thinking
Solano and Cosentino (2018)Solano, A. C., & Cosentino, A. C. (2018). IVyF abreviado – IvyFabre –: análisis psicométrico y de estructura factorial en Argentina. Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana/Bogotá (Colombia), 36(3), 619-637. https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/apl/a.4681 https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosar... ^b b Exploratory Factor Analysis; ^, ^c c Confirmatory Factor Analysis.	IvyFabre (Argentina)	PA (Promin)	Interpersonal strengths (10)	Forgiveness, kindness, love, humor, hope, Impartiality, authenticity, teamwork, spirituality, gratitude
			Intellectual and personal empathy strengths (8)	Curiosity, creativity, common sense, leadership, bravery, vitality, emotional intelligence and persistence
			Restriction strengths (6)	Appreciation of the beautiful, love of learning, prudence, critical thinking, modesty and self-regulation
Duan et al. (2012)^c c Confirmatory Factor Analysis.	Chinese Virtues Questionnaire-96 (China)		Vitality (10)	Humor, curiosity, creativity, vitality, common sense, hope, appreciation of the beautiful, bravery, spirituality and emotional intelligence
			Interpersonal (8)	Kindness, teamwork, love, impartiality, leadership, forgiveness, authenticity and gratitude
			Caution (6)	Prudence, self-regulation, critical thinking, modesty, perseverance and love of learning
^* * general factor and 6 specific; Ng et al. (2016)^c c Confirmatory Factor Analysis.	VIA-IS (United States)		General factor
			Wisdom and knowledge (5)	Creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, love of learning and common sense
			Courage (4)	Bravery, persistence, authenticity and vitality
			Humanity (3)	Love, kindness and emotional intelligence
			Justice (3)	Teamwork, impartiality and leadership
			Temperance (4)	Forgiveness, modesty, prudence and self-regulation
			Transcendence (5)	Appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality

Factor Structures		χ²/df	RMSEA	CFI	TLI	Factorial loads
Reference values		< 2	< 0.05	≥ 0.90	≥ 0.90	Factorial loads
6 factors
	CFA-1	6766.796/1065 (6.35)	0.07	0.81	0.82	0.43–0.86
5 factors
	CFA-2	6592.455/1070 (6.16)	0.07	0.82	0.83	0.42–0.82
	CFA-3	7275.765/1070 (6.80)	0.08	0.80	0.81	0.43–0.81
	CFA-4	6781.148/1070 (6.34)	0.07	0.81	0.82	0.44–0.88
	CFA-5	6674.323/1070 (6.24)	0.07	0.82	0.83	0.43–0.82
4 factors
	CFA-6	7681.910/1074 (7.15)	0.08	0.79	0.80	0.41–0.77
3 factors
	CFA-7	8208.544/1070 (7.67)	0.08	0.77	0.78	0.41–0.76
	CFA-8	8235.999/1070 (7.70)	0.08	0.77	0.78	0.42–0.76
1 general factor and 6 specific factors
	CFA-9	6390.279/1032 (6.19)	0.07	0.82	0.84	0.37–0.76

Note: CFA-1: Noronha and Batista (2020a)Noronha, A. P. P., & Batista, H. H. V. (2020a). Análise da estrutura interna da Escala de Forças de Caráter. Ciências Psicológicas, 14(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v14i1.2150
https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v14i1.2150... ; CFA-2: Azañedo et al. (2014)Azañedo, C. M., Fernández-Abascal, E. G., & Barraca, J. (2014). Character strengths in Spain: Validation of the Value is in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) in a Spanish sample. Clínica y Salud, 25(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clysa.2014.06.002
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clysa.2014.06.... ; CFA-3: Littman-Ovadia and Lavy (2012)Littman-Ovadia, H., & Lavy, S. (2012). Character strengths in Israel Hebrew adaptation of the VIA Inventory of Strengths. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 28(1), 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000089
https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a00008... ; CFA-4: Martínez-Marti and Ruch (2016)Martínez-Marti, M. L., & Ruch, W. (2016). Character strengths predict resilience over and above positive affect, self-efficacy, optimism, social support, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1163403
https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.11... ; CFA-5: McGrath (2014)McGrath, R. E. (2014). Scale- and item-level factor analyses of the VIA Inventory of Strengths. Assessment, 21(1), 4-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112450612
https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112450612... ; CFA-6: Neto et al. (2014)Neto, J., Neto, F., & Furnham, A. (2014). Gender and psychological correlates of self-rated strengths among youth. Social Indicators Research, 118(1), 315-327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0417-5
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0417-... ; CFA-7: Solano and Cosentino (2018)Solano, A. C., & Cosentino, A. C. (2018). IVyF abreviado – IvyFabre –: análisis psicométrico y de estructura factorial en Argentina. Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana/Bogotá (Colombia), 36(3), 619-637. https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/apl/a.4681
https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosar... ; CFA-8: Duan et al. (2012)Duan, W., Ho, S. M. Y., Yu, B., Tang, X., Zhang, Y., Li, T., & Yuen, T. (2012). Factor structure of Chinese Virtues Questionnaire. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(6), 680-688. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731512450074
https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731512450074... ; CFA-9: Ng et al. (2016)Ng, V., Cao, M., Marsh, H. W., Tay, L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2016). The factor structure of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS): An item-level Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) bifactor analysis. Psychological Assessment, 29(8). https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000396
https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000396... . CFI: Comparative Fit Index, RMSEA: Root Mean Square Error of Aproximation, TLI: Tucker Lewis Index.

Items (Strength)	Factorial loads		DIF’s
	Factorial loads		Gender		Age		Education
	F1	F2	F1	F2	F1	F2	F1	F2
	F1	F2	β = 0.067	β = 0.114^* * p < 0.001. Bolds indicate the highest load on the factor.	β = 0.273^* * p < 0.001. Bolds indicate the highest load on the factor.	β = 0.284^* * p < 0.001. Bolds indicate the highest load on the factor.	β = 0.248^* * p < 0.001. Bolds indicate the highest load on the factor.	β = 0.141^* * p < 0.001. Bolds indicate the highest load on the factor.
01. I know what to do to make people feel good. (Emotional intelligence)	-0.02	-0.63	- 0.008		-0.031		-0.006
06. I am competent to analyze problems from different “perspectives”. (Critical thinking)	-0.01	-0.65	-0.113		-0.026		-0.033
09. Good things await me in the future. (Hope)	-0.79	-0.02	-0.001		-0.032		-0.040
15. I can find reasons to be grateful in my life. (Gratitude)	-0.87	-0.02	0.117		-0.072		0.002
17. I believe in a sacred force that binds us to each other. (Spirituality)	-0.70	-0.09	0.116		0.110		0.07
18. I create useful things. (Creativity)	0.17	-0.56	-0.140		0.114		-0.042
20. I am a real person. (Authenticity)	-0.05	-0.57	-0.031		-0.036		-0.040
21. I manage to create a good atmosphere in the groups I work with. (Team work)	0.12	-0.60	-0.008		-0.012		-0.059
22. I brave dangers to do good. (Bravery)	-0.05	-0.59	--0.200		-0.063		-0.081
26. I can appreciate the beauty in the world. (Appreciation of beauty)	-0.62	0.10	-0.149		-0.021		-0.121
31. I don’t miss opportunities to learn new things. (Love of learning)	-0.65	-0.09	-0.053		-0.103		-0.048
32. I am a humble person. (Modesty)	0.10	-0.56	-0.041		-0.086		-0.107
37. I feel full of life. (Vitality)	-0.55	-0.23	-0.004		-0.069		-0.030
43. It is easy for me to organize work in groups. (Leadership)	0.13	-0.63	-0.037		-0.027		-0.011
44. I can help people understand each other when there is an argument. (Common Sense)	-0.09	-0.76	-0.015		-0.051		-0.036
45. I find it easy to make a boring situation fun. (Humor)	-0.02	-0.67	-0.051		-0.156		-0.044
46. I tend to make decisions when I am aware of the consequences of my actions. (Prudence)	-0.09	-0.72	-0.098		-0.030		-0.153
47. I am a fair person. (Impartiality)	-0.05	-0.69	-0.098		-0.024		-0.110

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas Núcleo de Editoração SBI - Campus II, Av. John Boyd Dunlop, s/n. Prédio de Odontologia, 13060-900 Campinas - São Paulo Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 19 3343-7223 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: psychologicalstudies@puc-campinas.edu.br

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[1] Correspondence to: H. H. V. BATISTA.E-mail: helder.hvb@gmail.com.