Abstract

ALVES DA ROCHA, Rafael Moreton; GRILLO SANTOS, Camila; VAZQUEZ GONZALEZ, Henrique  and  PORTO NORONHA, Ana Paula. Character Strengths Scale: new validity evidence. Cienc. Psicol. [online]. 2024, vol.18, n.1, e3297.  Epub June 01, 2024. ISSN 1688-4094.  https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v18i1.3297.

The aim of the study was to identify instruments used to assess the Character strengths are considered a positive aspect of personality, indicating a satisfying and authentic life. The Character Strengths Scale is the only known measure that evaluates personal strengths of Brazilians. The literature suggests that the proposed structure of 24 character strengths divided into six virtues is not empirically replicated. Studies have compared character strengths between men and women and across stages of development; however, understanding the equivalence of the instrument across groups should precede such comparisons. This study aims to test the factor structure of the Character Strengths Scale found by Noronha and Batista (2020) and evaluate the construct’s invariance among adolescents and adults, as well as between sexes in adolescents and adults. For the first objective, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed, which supported the tested structure. For the second, the equivalence of the scale factors between groups was evaluated using Multi-Group CFA, which identified some factors as equivalent and others as not. It can be concluded that the tested factor structure is empirically relevant and that, when comparing strength means between groups in future studies using the Character Strengths Scale, authors should pay attention to which strengths belong to invariant factors.

Keywords : psychological assessment; psychometrics; positive psychology; personality..

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