that understanding and applying your character strengths can help;

Increase Confidence

Boost Happiness

Strengthen Relationships

Manage Problems

Reduce Stress

Accomplish Goals

Build Meaning and Purpose

Improve Work Performance

7 Benefits of Recognising Your Strengths

 1. Enhanced wellbeing

Perhaps the most critical overall advantage, exercising one’s signature strengths has been shown to contribute to greater wellbeing and lower psychological distress in adults (Linley, Nielsen, Gillett, & Biswas-Diener, 2010; Mongrain & Anselmo-Matthews, 2012; Fava & Ruini, 2014). Seligman, Rashid, and Parks (2006) indicated that the same applies to young adults: using core strengths in action was related to higher life satisfaction and decreased depressive symptoms.

2. Self-acceptance

Significant correlations have also been found between specific character strengths (e.g., zest, hope) and self-acceptance (Harzer, 2016). In positive psychology, self-acceptance is an integral part of maintaining a healthy relationship with one’s self, helping us look past our perceived deficiencies, and knowing deeply that we are “enough.”

 3. Greater happiness

Plenty of researchers have looked at the relationship between character strengths and happiness. Weber, Ruch, Littman-Ovadia, Lavy, and Gai, 2013 showed that transcendence strengths are a predictor of positive affect and life satisfaction.

Peterson, Ruch, Beerman, Park, and Seligman (2007) identified several strengths (including curiosity, zest, and hope) important to happiness through meaning, a key element of Seligman’s PERMA model. The same study revealed relationships between the “engagement” and “pleasure” routes to happiness (Schueller & Seligman, 2010).

Schutte and Malouff (2019) examined the impact of signature strengths interventions, finding that developing these core strengths can improve positive affect and boost life satisfaction.

 4. Improved mental health

Building on the above, Schutte and Malouff (2019) also found that developing signature strengths can play a role in reducing depression. But as we know, mental health is more than the absence of mental illness. In essence, their findings correspond with those from Tehranchi, Neshat Doost, Amiri, and Power (2018), which show that character strengths negatively impact dysfunctional attitudes and positively influence our happiness.

Elsewhere, Zhang and Chen (2018) present evidence linking strengths application and future self-continuity with subjective wellbeing, which supports earlier studies linking strengths with subjective wellbeing. Gillham et al. (2011) worked with adolescents to look at the vital role of interpersonal connections and a sense of purpose in future wellbeing.

 5. Positive work experiences

Harzer and Ruch (2013) used the Applicability of Character Strengths Rating Scales to examine the use of signature strengths in organizations, finding that the more signature strengths were put into action at work, the higher people’s positive subjective experiences were. This was important, regardless of the nature of the work (its “content”).

More recently, studies have emerged showing that applying signature strengths has a particularly strong impact on behavioral outcomes such as job performance and organizational citizenship behavior. Using happiness strengths, however, may have a stronger impact on psycho-emotional outcomes in the workplace, such as satisfaction, engagement, and experienced meaning (Littman-Ovadia, Lavy, & Boiman-Meshita, 2017).

 7. Efficient problem solving

Studies have shown that helping children and young adults recognize, cultivate, and apply their strengths has at least a few benefits. When testing the efficacy of strengths interventions, Rashid et al. (2013) demonstrated that children can solve problems more efficiently when taught to utilize their strengths when tackling problems. The same study provided evidence that doing so also had a positive impact on their wellbeing.

In a nutshell

Clearly, strengths research is a popular and fast-growing area in positive psychology. It would be impossible to cover all the benefits of knowing your strengths in this article.  To sum up, the key benefits of this awareness manifest in the following ways:

• Allowing us to more consciously apply them – At work, building and cultivating relationships, tackling adversity, trying to boost our performance, and myriad more aspects of life (Hodges & Clifton, 2004)
  
  
• Helping us focus our development – Both in ourselves and others, including students and children (e.g., Fava & Ruini, 2014).