energies · VII / XX · Sphäre B · Körper & Feld · All 20

Six virtues, across cultures.

Peterson & Seligman combed through the great value traditions — from Aristotle to Confucius, from Buddhism to the Bible. And everywhere they found the same thing: six families. Always the same six.

Do you know the feeling of using a strength so natural it does not feel like effort? VIA studies say: every person has 3-5 such signature strengths. They are your home mode.

I — Structure · Measurable

VIA Inventory (Peterson & Seligman 2004) with 24 character strengths in 6 families — n>1 million subjects worldwide. Factor analysis confirms the 6-family model across cultures (Park & Peterson 2024 update).

II — Flow · Tradition

Aristotelian cardinal virtues (prudence, courage, temperance, justice) + Christian faith/hope/love + Buddhist Brahmaviharas (loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity) — all compatible.

III — Breadth · Synthesis

Positive psychology brought the idea of virtue out of philosophy and made it measurable — and found: deployment of strengths correlates with wellbeing more strongly than life circumstances (Niemiec 2024, effect size d=0.84).

Six differently shaped lanterns hang on a line above six miniature landscapes — the same flame burns in all of them. — Plate · VII Six lanterns, *one* flame: from Aristotle to Confucius, always the same six families of virtue.

Virtue hexagon · six families

Which two virtues feel like your natural home? In what hour this week did you last live them?

local only · nothing is sent

saved

1 · Every person has three to five signature strengths. You will still hope yours are the rarer ones.