Character

“… the students who persisted in college were not necessarily the ones who had excelled academically …; they were the ones with exceptional character strengths, like optimism and persistence and social intelligence.”

“Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification”

by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman 

This 800-page tome was developed to help understand and explain what it takes for successful matriculation through academics and beyond, and has generated a wave of follow-up exploration and commentary from multiple sources since first published in 2004.

“Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.  They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on – each of which exists in degrees.”
 http://www.amazon.com/Character-Strengths-Virtues-Handbook-Classification/dp/0195167015  

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A more in-depth review, focusing on related work by Dominic Randolph, headmaster at Riverdale Country School, was given by Paul Tough in the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0  

“The most critical missing piece [for success], Randolph explained [echoing Peterson and Seligman], … is character — those essential traits of mind and habit that were drilled into him at boarding school in England and that also have deep roots in American history. “… that if you worked hard and you showed real grit, that you could be successful,” he said. “Strangely, we’ve now forgotten that. People who have an easy time of things, who get 800s on their SAT’s, I worry that those people get feedback that everything they’re doing is great. And I think as a result, we are actually setting them up for long-term failure.”

Additional excerpts …

“The list included some we think of as traditional noble traits, like bravery, citizenship, fairness, wisdom and integrity; others that veer into the emotional realm, like love, humor, zest and appreciation of beauty; and still others that are more concerned with day-to-day human interactions: social intelligence (the ability to recognize interpersonal dynamics and adapt quickly to different social situations), kindness, self-regulation, gratitude. 

Angela Duckworth … notes: ‘The problem, I think, is not only the schools but also the students themselves,” she wrote. “Here’s why: learning is hard. True, learning is fun, exhilarating and gratifying — but it is also often daunting, exhausting and sometimes discouraging.

Duckworth’s early research showed that measures of self-control can be a more reliable predictor of students’ grade-point averages than their I.Q.’s. But while self-control seemed to be a critical ingredient in attaining basic success, Duckworth came to feel it wasn’t as relevant when it came to outstanding achievement. People who accomplished great things, she noticed, often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take. She decided she needed to name this quality, and she chose the word ‘grit.’  

Levin and Randolph …settled on a final list: zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity 

One eighth-grade girl … said that, for her and her friends, the biggest issue was inclusion — who was invited to whose bat mitzvah; who was being shunned on Facebook. Character, as far as I could tell, was being defined at Riverdale mostly in terms of helping other people …

K.C. Cohen: ‘When I think of good character, I think: Are you fair? Are you honest in dealings with other people? Are you a cheater?’ 

‘Sure, a trait can backfire,’ [Mike] Witter said. ‘Too much grit, … you start to lose your ability to have empathy for other people. If you’re so gritty that you don’t understand why everyone’s complaining about how hard things are, because nothing’s hard for you, because you’re Mr. Grit, then you’re going to have a hard time being kind. Even love — being too loving might make you the kind of person who can get played.  So, yes, character is something you have to be careful about. Character strengths can become character weaknesses.’ 

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or C.B.T., involves using the conscious mind to understand and overcome unconscious fears and self-destructive habits, using techniques like ‘self-talk’ … “The kids who succeed … are the ones who can C.B.T. themselves in the moment,’ 

Randolph wants his students to succeed, of course — it’s just that he believes that in order to do so, they first need to learn how to fail [and how to recover from failure].” 

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A more general exploration of the core elements of character through “moral stories” was given in “The Book of Virtues” by William J. Bennett (Simon and Schuster, 1996, 818 p.)  Perhaps reflecting his own personal struggles with a gambling addiction  (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0306.green.html), Bennett opens the compendium with the importance of Self-Discipline.  Other elements include: Compassion, Responsibility, Friendship, Work, Courage, Perseverance, Honesty, Loyalty, and Faith.  In a 1973 review of “Virtues” (Newsweek, November 13, p. 75), Jerry Adler laments Bennett’s slighting of self-esteem and creativity.  

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Here’s the “Cliff Notes” version:  Do the most “right” thing you can do, keep being creatively better than you were yesterday, and make it a habit.  Why?  Character is the currency of preferred citizenship; it’s the collateral we carry for credit we’ve already been extended and for credit we’ll need to open doors of future opportunity; and it’s the core element that allows us to live with ourselves “in our own skin”.  Ultimately?  Nobody on their deathbed ever said “I wish I’d made a bigger fool of myself!”  A few have said “I wish I’d gotten away with more!”  But that pretty much nails the point home, doesn’t it?  It’s about “getting what we deserve” from the investments we make, and Blue Chip investments with total intentionality – including investments we make on others’ behalf – leave the fewest regrets.  Quartermaster