- Universität Zürich > Philosophische Fakultät > Psychologisches Institut > Persönlichkeitspsychologie und Diagnostik > Prof. Dr. Willibald Ruch
- Ruch Weber
Completed Research Project
- Title / Titel
- Assessment of character strengths among adolescents: German adaptation of the VIA-Youth
- Original title / Originaltitel
- Diagnostik von Charakterstärken bei Jugendlichen: Deutsche Adaptation des VIA-Youth
- Summary / Zusammenfassung
- Character strengths are seen as the inner determinant of the good life. Park and Peterson (2006) presented the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth), a reliable and valid self-report questionnaire for the assessment of strengths and virtues among adolescents. The VIA-Youth contains 198 items in a 5-point Likert-style answer format measuring 24 strengths of character that are grouped around six core virtues (i.e., humanity, wisdom, courage, justice, temperance, and transcendence). The current project undertakes the adaptation of the VIA-Youth for use with German-speaking juveniles and adolescents in the ages from 10 to 17 years. The 198 items of the English version were translated into German by a research team. An independent back-translation was undertaken by a bilingual researcher stationed in the USA. The US-based authors of the questionnaire decide on the equivalence of the original items and the back translation, and generally make sure that the German version matches the English original. So far, a paper-pencil version was administered to app. 1000 school children in Switzerland and Germany. An initial analysis yielded good psychometric properties (mean alpha of .78). Only few items needed slight rewording. Most importantly, the character strengths predicted satisfaction with life among adolescents. In the future, a revised version will be administered over the internet (www.charakterstaerken.org) to selected groups varying in age, gender, regional composition, type of school etc. The psychometric properties will be determined for the web-based version and the paper-pencil version and their equivalence will be determined. Furthermore, norms will be established for valid feedback. Initial validation of the VIA-Youth will comprise the comparison with self- and peer-ratings of character strengths and with the peer version of the full VIA-Youth (2 peers). Furthermore, it will be examined whether selected known groups (e.g., scouts, musicians) yield higher scores in relevant strengths. A more comprehensive validation will involve the study of the determinants of the good life among juveniles and adolescents, which investigates the role of character strengths and orientations to happiness.
- Publications / Publikationen
- Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 891-909.
Weber, M., & Ruch, W. (2008, July).The role of similarity in character strengths profiles of juveniles and adolescents in romantic relationships. Poster session presented at the 4th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP), Rijeka/Opatija, Croatia.
Weber, M. & Ruch, W. (2009). Das gute Leben bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Psychologie und Erziehung P&E, 35, 24-39.
Weber, M., Ruch, W., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2008, July). Assessment of character strengths among adolescents: German adaptation of the VIA-Youth. Paper presented at the 4th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP), Rijeka/Opatija, Croatia.
- Keywords / Suchbegriffe
- character strengths, virtue, youth, Positive Psychology, personality, assessment
- Project Leadership and Contacts /
Projektleitung und Kontakte Prof. Dr. Willibald Ruch (Project Leader) w.ruch@psychologie.uzh.ch Dipl.-Psych. Marco Weber (Project Leader) m.weber@psychologie.uzh.ch
- Other Links to external Webpages
- http://www.charakterstaerken.org
- Funding Source(s) /
Unterstützt durch - Foundation, No project-specific funding
- In Collaboration with /
In Zusammenarbeit mit Prof. Nansook Park, Ph D.
Department of Psychology
University of Rhode Island
10 Chafee Rd.
Kingston, RI 02881-0808United States Prof. Christopher Peterson, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Michigan
525 East University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043United States
- Duration of Project / Projektdauer
- Oct 2007 to Jun 2010