Strengths of character as predictors of academic hardiness and academic engagement

Abstract

Strengths of Character (SC) explain personality from positive psychology. SC can be understood as a model of generic competences that influence the z of skills and abilities, and guide the implementation of acquired knowledge. The objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of these SCs on pisco-educational variables such as the Academic Hardiness (AH) and the Academic Engagement (AE). A total of 263 university students (20.9% female) were surveyed and the Virtues and Strengths Inventory, the Academic Engagement Scale and the Academic Hardiness Scale were applied. A significant correlation was found between the evaluated strengths, the AH and the AE. The intellectual, emotional and restriction strengths predict the AH and the intellectual and emotional strengths predict the AE. In a path analysis, it was found that the AH exerts a mediating effect between the designated SCs and the AE. In conclusion, the findings of this study allow the higher education system to propose to include the paradigm of positive education, focused on the development of human virtues, and thus, intentionally influence the improvement of the retention and academic success of its students.