A Master Strength?

Is there a "master strength"?  That is, is there one character strength that is somehow better or more desirable than all the others?  Or perhaps there is a group of strengths that make up the "big three" or "fab five" or "super seven" of character traits.  Proyer, Ruch and Buschor sought to explore these issues in a study they reported in the Journal of Happiness Studies, published online on March 16, 2012.  The research paper was entitled "Testing Strengths-Based Interventions: A Preliminary Study on the Effectiveness of a Program Targeting Curiosity, Gratitude, Hope, Humor, and Zest for Enhancing Life Satisfaction."

It's clear that you don't have to come up with snappy titles when you are writing a research paper.

They suggested that enhancing a targeted set of strengths with strengths-building interventions will produce the biggest bang for the buck in terms of subjective well-being.  The strengths they targeted were curiosity, gratitude, hope, zest and humor.  These are character trait strengths as identified on the Values in Action Character Survey.  You can take that survey for yourself on the www.authentichappiness.org site.

The experimental group engaged in four new activities that encourage exploration and absorption and then wrote a report describing their experiences.  This enhanced curiosity.  They did a "one door closes, one door opens" activity to build hope.  You can find a modified version of that exercise in an earlier post.  They followed an eight-step plan to increase humor in their lives.  They added zest by taking on additional physical activity and/or more challenging aspects in their routine.

The test group did, in fact, show the highest levels of satisfaction with life on their tests after the interventions.  

Three additional elements stand out.  First, the role of self-regulation was also critical for the increase of satisfaction with life.  Self-regulation involves managing what you feel and do.  Another label for this characteristic might be "impulse control."  It involves self-awareness, realistic appreciation of one's own gifts and liabilities, and a capacity to continue to learn about oneself.  Even though self-regulation wasn't targeted in the study, it was shown to be catalytic for all the other strengths and for an increase in overall satisfaction with life.

So when the New Testament talks about the virtue of self-control, that's not a discussion about heavy-handed rules and regulations.  That's an encouragement to engage in practices that produce the greatest long-term happiness and satisfaction.

Second, the one trait that produced the greatest benefit when increased was hope.  The experimental group engaged in activities for several strengths, so we can't tell if it's the combination that was critical.  However, hope showed the greatest increase in satisfaction with life.  If you want to find one place to begin a systematic campaign to feel and live better, start with hope.

Third, the older the participant the greater the benefits.  Age was not a tested variable, so explanations for this are speculative.  It has been demonstrated, however, that the benefits of strengths-based interventions increase with age.  Older participants were better at self-regulation and generally were more hopeful.

Does this mean that having other strengths isn't somehow "good"?  No, not at all.  Those with other strengths also demonstrated significant growth and development with helpful interventions.  The really good news is that if there is a master strength, it has something to do with self-awareness and the choice of hope.  Those are things anyone can take action to improve.