What the IPIP-VIA measures
Peterson and Seligman's Values in Action classification set out to do for human strengths what diagnostic manuals had done for disorders: give them names and a shared structure. Twenty-four strengths are grouped under six broad virtues found across cultures and centuries. The instrument that classification is best known for, the VIA-IS, is administered by the VIA Institute. The scales measured here are the International Personality Item Pool's public-domain equivalents, revised by Goldberg and colleagues, and they carry their own reliabilities.
The dimensions it assesses
- Appreciation of Beauty (8 items, IPIP alpha .77)
- Capacity for Love (9 items, IPIP alpha .70)
- Citizenship/Teamwork (9 items, IPIP alpha .78)
- Curiosity (10 items, IPIP alpha .78)
- Equity/Fairness (9 items, IPIP alpha .70)
- Forgiveness/Mercy (9 items, IPIP alpha .76)
- Gratitude (8 items, IPIP alpha .79)
- Hope/Optimism (8 items, IPIP alpha .73)
- Humor/Playfulness (9 items, IPIP alpha .84)
- Industry/Perseverance/Persistence (8 items, IPIP alpha .81)
- Integrity/Honesty/Authenticity (9 items, IPIP alpha .72)
- Judgment/Open-mindedness (9 items, IPIP alpha .80)
- Kindness/Generosity (10 items, IPIP alpha .72)
- Leadership (7 items, IPIP alpha .78)
- Love of Learning (10 items, IPIP alpha .77)
- Modesty/Humility (9 items, IPIP alpha .70)
- Originality/Creativity (8 items, IPIP alpha .85)
- Perspective/Wisdom (9 items, IPIP alpha .75)
- Prudence (9 items, IPIP alpha .73)
- Self-regulation/Self-control (11 items, IPIP alpha .75)
- Social/Personal/Emotional Intelligence (7 items, IPIP alpha .76)
- Spirituality/Religiousness (9 items, IPIP alpha .91)
- Valor/Bravery/Courage (10 items, IPIP alpha .75)
- Zest/Enthusiasm/Vitality (9 items, IPIP alpha .78)
What to do with your result
- Look at the top five, not the bottom five: The classification's own premise is that people have signature strengths they already use well. The scales at the top of your ranking are the ones worth building around; the ones at the bottom are usually not deficits to correct.
- Use a signature strength somewhere new: The most consistent finding in this literature concerns applying a strength you already have in a setting you have not used it in, rather than trying to acquire one you lack.
- Expect the ranking to move: These are not fixed quantities. Circumstances change which strengths are in daily use, and the profile follows.
Common questions about the IPIP-VIA
- What does the IPIP-VIA measure?
- Twenty-four character strengths, measured by the public-domain IPIP scales built to parallel the Values in Action classification.
- Can the IPIP-VIA diagnose me?
- No. Character Strengths Profile (IPIP-VIA) is a screening questionnaire, not a diagnostic tool. It can flag that something may need a closer look. It cannot tell you what is causing it. It describes tendencies rather than diagnosing anything, and no result here is a condition or something to fix.
- How long does the IPIP-VIA take?
- 213 questions, which most people finish in 30 – 40 minutes. There is no time limit, and answering honestly matters more than answering quickly. The results page checks for patterns suggesting the questions were rushed.
- Is this IPIP-VIA test really free?
- Yes. No account, no email address, no payment. Psychometrics Today is funded by donations rather than advertising, which is also what allows us to publish instruments whose authors permit free but non-commercial use.
- Are my answers stored or shared?
- No. Your answers are scored inside your browser and never sent to us. There is no database of responses, because we never receive any. Closing the tab erases them, which is why results cannot be recovered afterwards.
- How often should I retake the IPIP-VIA?
- Traits and preferences move slowly, so retaking this every few months is more informative than retaking it often. Larger shifts usually follow a genuine change in circumstances.
- Who created the IPIP-VIA, and is this the real version?
- It was published by International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). IPIP items are explicitly public domain: "one can copy, edit, translate, or use them for any purpose without asking permission and without paying a fee." The items here are the published ones rather than a paraphrase, and the scoring follows the original rules. Both are documented on this page so they can be checked.
- How accurate is the IPIP-VIA?
- Screening questionnaires are good at flagging that something merits attention and poor at establishing what it is. This one is sensitive to how you feel on the day you take it, and many instruments were validated on narrow populations whose cut-offs may not transfer cleanly to everyone. The references at the foot of this page are the primary sources.
Sources
Rights held by International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). Developed and validated by the researchers cited below.
- Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press.
- Goldberg, L. R., Johnson, J. A., Eber, H. W., Hogan, R., Ashton, M. C., Cloninger, C. R., & Gough, H. G. (2006). The International Personality Item Pool and the future of public-domain personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(1), 84-96.
- Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23(5), 603-619.
Licensing
Public domain. IPIP items are explicitly public domain: "one can copy, edit, translate, or use them for any purpose without asking permission and without paying a fee."
Lawful only while the items are IPIP items and the instrument is named as such. The VIA-IS itself is administered by the VIA Institute on its own terms and must not be reproduced or implied. Item text was taken from the IPIP scoring key; every scale's item count was checked against the count the key states for it.