Differences in self-reported character strengths across adolescence

Introduction: Although typically considered a stable trait, character strengths may be subject to temporal changes. Whereas research has investigated these changes across adulthood, the pivotal period of adolescence remains relatively understudied. Method: To identify potential developmental differences in character strengths, we conducted a cross-sectional exploratory analysis of 24 Character strengths, assessed by the VIA-Youth, across youth between ages 10 and 17 from four highly represented countries (N = 12,871). Results: The general pattern was for older adolescents to generate lower scores in many traits compared to younger adolescents. When considering gender as a potential moderator, girls, on average, scored higher on most strengths, but also showed more consistently lower scores across ages. Conclusion: Findings provide a nuanced understanding of developmental differences in character across adolescence in a large-scale study. We frame these findings in the context of recent work investigating how character strengths develop throughout adolescence and offer suggestions for future research and interventions.