ABOUT VIA

11/17/08

The VIA* Institute on Character  (www.viacharacter.org) was founded as a  non-profit organization in 2000 by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman and Dr. Neal H. Mayerson.  Dr. Seligman was, at the time, President of the American Psychological Association and is considered to be the “father of positive psychology.” Positive psychology  is the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive.   Dr. Mayerson is a psychologist and noted philanthropist.  Together they formed VIA Institute to create an intellectually and scientifically rigorous classification of character strengths and a way of measuring such strengths. 

Dr. Christopher Peterson, from the University of Michigan, and one of the most cited psychologists of our time, was brought on board to help develop the VIA Classification of Strengths, the VIA Survey, and to write, with Dr. Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, published by Oxford University Press.  Their work has been lauded by noted psychologists.  Dr. George Vaillant of Harvard University said the publication of our work “is destined to become a classic both in the social sciences and in the humanities”.  Dr. Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Education and Cognition, Harvard Graduate School of Education, said VIA’s work is “...one of the most important initiatives in psychology of the past half century”.

Approximately 1 million people worldwide have taken the VIA Survey on Character Strengths and it has been translated into 10 languages.  

The VIA Classification identifies 24 character strengths that have been found to be universal – characteristics that define what’s best about people.  The VIA Survey is the measurement tool that has undergone significant scientific validation.  The Classification and Survey resulted from a three-year dedicated effort involving 55 noted social scientists.

 *The acronym VIA formerly stood for "Values in Action." Dr. Mayerson and others came to believe the most important aspect of the study of the VIA character strengths and virtues was "character."  The Institute's name was changed to the VIA Institute on Character in 2007.