Character Strengths and Subjective Well-Being:An Exploratory Study of Indian Youth

Character strengths formulate the foundation of an individual's personality; positive traits representing an important route towards 'psychological good life'. These qualities help an individual to make significant contribution in the world and achieve well-being (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). However, it varies from individual to individual because of moral and cultural values placed on them. The current study aimed to investigate how character strengths are related to subjective well-being among Indian youth. 50 university students of age range 18-25 years were chosen. Data was collected by administering VIA Inventory of Strengths (Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2004) and Subjective Well-being Inventory (Sell & Nagpal, 1992). Correlational analysis revealed significant relationship between different character strengths and the overall subjective well-being. Findings suggest that similar studies need to be conducted to find out if strengths varies across cultures and how they can be used to formulate interventions directed towards development of youth.