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When Theory and Research Collide: Examining Correlates of Signature Strengths Use at Work

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Abstract

Signature strengths are individuals’ highest-ranked strengths, those that they own, celebrate, and frequently exercise. Their use has been theorized to elicit positive affect, and contribute significantly to individuals’ functioning and well-being. The present study examined two elements of these ideas in the work arena: (a) Associations of strengths use at work with work outcomes (work meaningfulness, engagement, job satisfaction, performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behaviors), focusing on differences in the associations of signature-strengths use, lowest-strengths use, and happiness strengths-use at work; (b) The role of positive affect in mediating these associations. The results, based on self-reports of an international sample of 1031 working individuals, generally indicated that the use of all kinds of strengths had positive correlates. As expected, using signature strengths had the highest, robust unique contribution to behavioral outcomes (performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and lower counterproductive work behavior). But unexpectedly, using happiness strengths (and not signature strengths) had the highest, robust unique contribution to psycho-emotional work-related outcomes (work meaningfulness, engagement, and job satisfaction). Positive affect mediated the association between strengths use and all work-related outcomes for the three kinds of strengths, when each was examined separately. However, when uses of the three kinds of strengths were examined together, positive affect mediated the effects of lowest strengths use and those of happiness strengths use, but not the effects of signature strengths use. These findings highlight the differential benefits of using different kinds of strengths, and suggest that additional (and different) mechanisms may underlie these effects.

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Notes

  1. VIA originally stood for Values in Action however the name was changed to emphasize the focus of this work which is the scientific exploration of character, not values per se. VIA is a word that stands on its own, in Latin meaning “the path,” and refers to the nonprofit organization that initiated and champions this character strengths work (VIA Institute on Character), the systematic classification system (VIA Classification), and the psychological measurement tool assessing strengths of character (VIA Survey)(Littman-Ovadia and Niemiec in press).

  2. Lowest-strengths in this paper will refer to the lowest-ranking strengths, as reported on the 24-strenth VIA framework. It might be viewed by some as weaknesses, the traits or skills least characteristic of the individual, but in positive psychology, the preference is to retain the term strength.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the VIA Institute on Character for supporting this research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel

    Hadassah Littman-Ovadia & Maayan Boiman-Meshita

  2. Department of Leadership and Policy in Education, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Av., Mount Carmel, 3498838, Haifa, Israel

    Shiri Lavy

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  1. Hadassah Littman-Ovadia
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  3. Maayan Boiman-Meshita
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Correspondence to Hadassah Littman-Ovadia.

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Littman-Ovadia, H., Lavy, S. & Boiman-Meshita, M. When Theory and Research Collide: Examining Correlates of Signature Strengths Use at Work. J Happiness Stud 18, 527–548 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9739-8

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