The good in people has attracted the attention of researchers and professionals in the field of social sciences and health. The study of virtues and character strengths is an example, as this construct has played a key role in the field of Positive Psychology (^{Noronha & Campos, 2018}; ^{Petkari & Ortiz-Tallo, 2016}). Virtues concern specific individual capacities related to the thoughts, feelings and actions that compel each person to act in good conscience and that involve specific strengths such as goal achievement (^{Peterson & Seligman, 2004}). Conversely, strengths of character are characterized as preexisting and authentic strengths of humans because they enable them to survive in a positive way (^{Noronha & Zanon, 2018}; ^{Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000}).

In addition, the use of character strengths is socially valued and positively related to positive personality traits (e.g., kindness and extraversion) (^{Couto & Fonsêca, 2019}; ^{Noronha & Campos, 2018}). Character strengths are not only required for enjoying education, controlling excesses, self-regulating emotions and increasing satisfaction with life (^{Harzer & Ruch, 2013}; ^{Noronha & Batista, 2020a}) but also essential for pleasant interpersonal and group dynamics, with enhanced perceptions of well-being and mental health (^{Haridas, Bhullar, & Dunstan, 2017}).

In their survey of studies published until 2014, ^{Reppold, Gurgel and Schiavon (2015}) found no studies on character strengths in Brazil. Similarly, ^{Pires, Nunes and Nunes (2015}) found no instrument based on the model of strengths and virtues published before 2014.

However, some studies on character strengths conducted in Brazil have recently been published (^{Couto & Fonseca, 2019}; ^{Noronha & Batista, 2017}; ^2020a; ^2020b; ^{Noronha & Martins, 2016}; ^{Noronha, Silva, & Rueda, 2018}; ^{Seibel, DeSousa, & Koller, 2015}). In particular, ^{Noronha, Dellazzana-Zanon and Zanon (2015)} present excellent psychometric evidence for the Character Strengths Scale (CSS), which was parsimoniously developed for the Brazilian context. Therefore, the study of this construct remains incipient. Nevertheless, this subject is increasingly gaining notoriety thanks to assessment instruments that provide a ranking of the strengths in each region.

Characterized by its authentic nature and potential for presence in all persons, the ranking is dynamic and influenced by the specificities of each region (^{Peterson & Seligman, 2004}; ^{Seibel et al., 2015}). Accordingly, assessing the prevalence of strengths in each country is the foundation for solving everyday social problems (^{Romero, Guajardo, & Sánchez, 2016}) and highlights the framework of Positive Psychology (positive emotions, qualities and institutions) (^{Noronha & Batista, 2017}).

Character strengths can manifest as behaviors, thoughts and/or feelings, are authentic and enable the most ideal functioning possible of a human being (^{Noronha et al., 2018}; ^{Peterson &Seligman, 2004}). Hence, as people use strengths of character, they become virtuous (^{Oliveira, Nunes, Legal, & Noronha, 2018}).

After a literature search, including philosophical and religious traditions, a classification termed Values in Action (VIA) was developed that gathers 24 character strengths theoretically organized into six virtues to describe the potentialities of individuals. For this purpose, the authors defined 10 criteria for a psychological characteristic to be included as strength of character (^{Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2006}; Peterson & Seligman, 2004; ^{Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005}). In brief, ^{Freitas, Barbosa and Neufeld (2016}) transcribed the criteria gathered by those authors; all, or at least most of them, must be met: (1) is useful and contributes to a good life for oneself and others, (2) beyond producing desirable effects, its use is morally valued, (3) its display by one person does not diminish others, (4) has obvious antonyms that are opposite and negative, (5) its manifestations are stable and able to be measured, (6) distinct from other strengths, (7) embodied in consensual models, (8) present in all age groups, (9) can be selectively and totally absent in some people and (10) is formed in institutions and the target of social practices and rituals that cultivate and sustain the strength.

When using the 24 strengths, an individual may experience feelings such as excitement, eagerness, discovery and invigoration, in addition to becoming a person known for having a good character (^{Seijts, Crossan, & Carleton, 2017}). Therefore, in general, character strengths are likely put into practice socially to foster the six theoretically proposed virtues and therefore to develop good social relationships, increase the capacity for coping with difficult situations and acquire new knowledge and healthy functioning (^{Noronha & Campos, 2018})

In summary, the model presented in Table 1 was proposed to examine and describe, in detail, the best in human beings and to facilitate the identification, appreciation and daily practice of character strengths, as long as they can be measured. This organization helps readers and researchers, but the classification should be regarded as descriptive, not prescriptive (^{Niemiec, 2013}).

Table 1: Description of character strengths and clustering into virtues, translated into Brazilian Portuguese (adapted  

From the proposed theoretical model, the 240-item VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS), with 10 items for each strength, totaling 240 items, was developed as the first step of an empirical study of strengths (^{Peterson & Seligman, 2004}). Despite being applied worldwide, this six-factor model, however, has not been found in empirical studies exploring the dimensionality of the construct; in the original study, the structure included five factors (^{Peterson & Seligman, 2004}), similarly to the studies by ^{Azañedo, Fernández-Abascal and Barraca (2014}) and by ^{Ruch, Martínez-Martí, Proyer and Harzer (2014}). Structures with four (^{Brdar & Kashdan, 2010}) and three (^{McGrath, 2015}) dimensions have also been found.

In Brazil, the VIA-IS was adapted and validated by ^{Seibel et al. (2015}), behaving as a single-factor structure. In turn, ^{Noronha et al. (2015}) considered the VIA model when designing the CSS, a more parsimonious Brazilian instrument that assesses strengths and has evidence of internal validity (^{Noronha & Batista, 2020a}) and contains external variables such as parenting styles (^{Noronha & Batista, 2017}), personality (^{Noronha & Campos, 2018}) and emotional self-regulation (^{Noronha & Batista, 2020b}). Initially, three items were constructed for each strength, but the appreciation of beauty strength, after analysis by judges, consisted of only two items, totaling 71 items in the CSS. The authors, through robust analyses for item retention (e.g., Hull method, parallel analysis), ultimately identified the unidimensionality of the CSS, thus corroborating the model developed by ^{Seibel et al. (2015)} using the VIA-IS.

Although the above findings highlight the variability of the model with culture, strengths of character can be evaluated both specifically (^{Noronha & Martins, 2016}) and globally (^{Neto, Neto & Furnham, 2014}). However, ^{Noronha and Zanon (2018)} gathered different psychometric evidence, finding, through exploratory factor analysis, a three-factor structure for the CSS, in a sample of 981 university students from the Brazilian Southeast.

Thus, it is observed that research on strengths and virtues is prominent internationally, but the theoretical six-factor structure originally proposed by ^{Peterson and Seligman (2004}) has not been replicated empirically. This caveat nevertheless does not prevent advances in the field and the refinement of such scales for assessing the strengths of an individual. More specifically, the CSS had demonstrated satisfactory psychometric evidence, as discussed above, and merits gathering new findings in different regions of Brazil.

However, regardless of the instrument used, character strengths can be studied independently or combined, considering their mutual influence and interrelationship (^{Noronha & Barbosa, 2016}; ^{Seibel et al., 2015}). Furthermore, by definition, the 24 strengths are universal, and all individuals have the ability to develop them and to put them into practice to overcome adversities and risk factors, which negatively affect well-being and mental health (^{Haridas et al., 2017}).

^{Park et al. (2006}) and ^{McGrath (2015}) conducted studies with samples from different countries, including Brazil, providing further evidence of the universality of the model. However, they noted the inability to make generalizations and the individual nature of character strengths, which are influenced by the specificities of each region and especially by cultural differences, as shown by ^{Hofstede (1991}). The latter presented a model of the cultural dimensions that affect the behavior of each individual from each value perspective (power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation versus short-term orientation).

More specifically, when applying the model of cultural dimensions developed by ^{Hofstede (1991}), ^{Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov (2010)} identified that Brazil scores high in power distance, suggesting that individuals accept hierarchies well. Brazil also scores high in collectivist characteristics, defining people as interconnected, and presents characteristics of masculinity, such as competitiveness in pursuit of goals, but quality of life prevails. The high level of uncertainty avoidance also stands out, creating rules and legal systems. Last, the results from the dimension long-term versus short-term orientation showed that Brazilians easily accepts change because they believe that change is part of life (^{Santana, Mendes, & Mariano, 2014}).

In this line, international studies have been conducted to identify the prevalence of character strengths in different countries, such as Spain (^{Azañedo et al., 2014}) and Norway (^{Boe, Bang, & Nilsen, 2015}). In addition, a study conducted in Mexico (^{Romero et al., 2016}) stands out because this country has a Latin American culture similar to the Brazilian culture. Those authors argued that the high prevalence of gratitude and kindness that they found reflects the relationships Mexican people maintain, collectively prioritizing social interactions.

In Brazil, similar studies were conducted by ^{Seibel et al. (2015}) and by ^{Noronha et al. (2015}) using the VIA-IS and the CSS, respectively, to measure character strengths. However, in the latter, the sample consisted of only university students from São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Thus, different studies should be conducted in other Brazilian regions, with more heterogeneous samples, to help identify the Brazilian profile of character strengths and to provide major indices about the originally proposed model by testing the universality and cultural effects on the ranking.

Based on the above, the present study expands the theoretical and empirical framework of the character strengths of the Brazilian population. Considering the continental characteristics of the country and their effect on the study construct, the following questions arise: What are the psychometric indices of the CSS in the Brazilian Northeast? What is the prevalence of character strengths among residents of the Northeast Region? To answer these questions, this study assesses the prevalence of character strengths among Northeasterners and, more specifically, gathers new psychometric evidence on the CSS. For this purpose, an empirical study was conducted with people from the nine states of the Northeast Region, keeping in mind that the scale already parsimoniously shows acceptable psychometric indices and that the sample is novel. Ultimately, the goal is to gather new evidence of the validity and reliability of this scale, expanding its potential applicability while assessing the strengths of character of Northeastern Brazilians.

Results

Initially, the 24 character strengths were computed from item parcels, as suggested in the literature (^{Noronha & Barbosa, 2016}; ^{Noronha & Batista, 2020b}). Thus, for each index, the items that represented each strength were added (e.g., the three items that measured kindness were added); accordingly, the six-factor model based on the six theoretically proposed virtues was tested by CFA, which suggested that the structure of the study sample did not show good goodness-of-fit indices (CFI = 0.79, TLI = 0.76, RMSEA = 0.10 (90% CI = 0.09 - 0.12)). To consider the characteristic authenticity and the effect of each region on the organization of strengths, exploratory factor analysis was performed using the 24 character strengths to investigate the factorial model of the CSS in the Brazilian Northeast.

The number of common factors was defined based on the adequacy of the factorial indices of the data matrix (KMO = 0.93; Bartlett’s test (p < 0.05)). ULS factor analysis, using one of the most appropriate and efficient methods for factor retention, the Hull method, in addition to parallel analysis (^{Damásio, 2012}; ^{Lorenzo-Seva, Timmerman, &Kiers, 2011}), indicated the unidimensionality of the scale. The psychometric results from the CSS are provided in Table 1, along with the prevalence of the character strengths.

Table 2: Descriptive statistics and factorial structure of the Character Strengths Scale 

As shown in Table 2, all 24 character strengths satisfactorily loaded on the factor, with an eigenvalue of 9.69, explaining 43% of the total variance, with factor loadings above the recommended threshold (>0.30), ranging from 0.41 (forgiveness) to 0.72 (zest). In addition, other coefficients indicated satisfactory scale reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.94; McDonald’s Ω = 0.95). Furthermore, the most prevalent character strengths in the lives of Northeastern Brazilians in the study sample were gratitude and kindness, followed by curiosity, fairness, love of learning and hope. Moreover, the character strength spirituality had the highest standard deviation, indicating the highest dispersion of and variability in scores.