Editorial: VIA Character Strengths: Theory, Research and Practice

Character Strengths Among Youth

Four hundred and fiftynine students from 20 different high school classrooms in Michigan participated in focus group discussions about the character strengths included in the Values in Action Classification. Students were interested in the subject of good character and able to discuss with candor and sophistication instances of each strength. They were especially drawn to the positive traits of...

Promoting strengths, prevention, empowerment, and community change through organizational development: lessons for research, theory, and practice.

SPEC Learning and Changing by Doing is a three-year, action research, and organizational change project designed to ultimately promote social justice and well-being in the community. SPEC is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment, and Community Change. The project consists of five organizations tackling internal organizational change in order to better promote justice and...

Resiliency theory: a strengths-based approach to research and practice for adolescent health.

Resiliency Theory: A Strengths-Based Approach to Research and Practice for Adolescent Health1

Youth researchers often focus on cataloging risks and fixing problems. This is, of course, understandable because vulnerable youth require attention and we most certainly want to address the deleterious factors that may contribute to poor outcomes for youth. In this theme issue of Health Education & Behavior, Isomaa et al. (2013), for example, illustrate the value of defining high risk individu...

Editorial: Dishonest Behavior, from Theory to Practice

The rapidly growing field of behavioral ethics has shown that dishonest acts are highly prevalent in all walks of life, from corruption among politicians to flagrant cases of doping in sports, to everyday slips, and misdemeanors by ordinary people who nevertheless perceive themselves as highly moral. For instance, managers exaggerate travel expenses, consumers engage in wardrobing, citizens eva...