Inventory of Strengths-Brief [VIA-IS-120]

Scale Analysis

The Inventory of Strengths – Brief (VIA-20) was developed by Peterson and Seligman in 2004 and is a short form of the original VIA-IS questionnaire initially constructed by R. McGrath. Using this model as their foundation, they developed this self-report instrument representing character strengths. The VIA-IS provides a representation of the dimensions of each character strength.

Objective

The questionnaire was created with the purpose of developing a classification of character strengths, each associated with one of the following six broader virtues:
Wisdom and knowledge, which includes strengths like creativity, curiosity, and love of learning;
Courage, which includes bravery, honesty, and persistence;
Humanity, which includes kindness, love, and social intelligence;
Justice, which includes leadership and teamwork;
Temperance, which includes forgiveness, humility, and prudence;
Transcendence, which includes appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, and spirituality.

Item Scoring

Participants are asked to respond by considering how much each statement describes them. The questionnaire consists of 120 statements, answered using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Very much like me) to 5 (Not at all like me).

Statistical Analysis

The scale produces a total score by summing the scores of each item, ranging from 120 to 600. Higher scores indicate “weaker” character traits.

Validity and Reliability

The scale has been adapted into Greek by Dimitriadou and Stalikas and is currently being standardized in Greek by Pezirkianidis and Stalikas. The internal consistency was acceptable, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.78.