UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN CHARACTER STRENGTHS AND MINDFULNESS: INSIGHTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL POPULATIONS

Abstract

Objective: To examine (a) the relationship between global character strengths and dispositional mindfulness among high-school students, and (b) the distribution of levels of character strengths and mindfulness in the sample.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 344 high-school students age (M = 17.06, SD = 0.63) drawn from urban and rural schools. Character strengths were measured with the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth, 96 items, 5-point Likert) and mindfulness with the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale Adolescent version (MAAS-A, 14 items, 6-point Likert). Data collection occurred in classroom settings under researcher supervision. Analyses comprised descriptive statistics, categorical classification of score ranges (low/moderate/high), and Pearson product-moment correlation to test the association between total VIA and MAAS scores. Reliability (internal consistency) was evaluated for both scales.

Results: The sample was predominantly urban (83.1%), largely from nuclear families (79.7%), and balanced by gender (53.9% male). The findings revealed a strong positive and statistically significant correlation between total VIA and MAAS scores (r = .77, p < .001), demonstrating that higher levels of character strengths were strongly correlated with higher levels of dispositional mindfulness among high school students. Classification of total VIA scores showed 25.0% low, 50.6% moderate, and 24.4% high; MAAS-A classifications showed 25.6% low, 51.7% moderate, and 22.7% high. Instruments were administered with standard procedures; internal consistency was assessed

Conclusion: Most high school students demonstrated moderate levels of both character strengths and mindfulness. A strong positive correlation between these constructs indicates that students with higher character strengths also tended to report higher levels of dispositional mindfulness. These findings support the view that character strengths and mindfulness are complementary positive psychological resources that may jointly contribute to adolescents' psychological well-being and positive development. Future research should employ longitudinal, facet-level, and intervention designs using culturally validated measures and multi-informant assessments to clarify the developmental pathways between these constructs and identify which specific character strengths are most strongly related to mindfulness