Character Strengths and Fluid Intelligence

Abstract

Research on the associations between cognitive and noncognitive personality traits has widely neglected positively valued traits such as character strengths. The present study aimed to bridge this gap by studying the associations between character strengths and intelligence using different operationalizations of intelligence and character strengths (i.e., using self- and informant-reports) in children, adolescents, and adults. The results, based on four samples (N = 193/286/330/321), suggested that character strengths exist independently of cognitive ability, with the exception of love of learning, which showed a small but robust positive relationships with intelligence across all samples. Nonetheless, we argue for further research on the relationships and interactions between character strengths and cognitive ability when examining their relationships with external criteria.