Character Strengths Scale-Brief: initial psychometric studies

Abstract

Abstract Objective Character strengths are positive human characteristics that indicate a happy and successful life. The objective was to select items for the Character Strengths Scale-Brief instrument and to identify its psychometric properties. Method Exploratory factor analysis and qualitative analysis of the items (Study 1) were performed in a database of 4,540 people who responded to the Character Strengths Scale (71 items). In Study 2, 1,014 participants responded to the Character Strengths Scale-Brief (48 items). Results The psychometric indices identified in the confirmatory factor analyses were unsatisfactory for the instrument when considering structures previously reported in the literature. Conclusion After successive analyses, the structure of two factors of first order was considered the most adequate for the Character Strengths Scale-Brief (18 items), with better fit indexes and theoretical relevance. The results were discussed in the light of the literature.