In 2004, Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman came out with Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. This volume was a significant contribution to psychology, a sort of antidote to the DSM’s focus on mental illness, and an important reminder to psychologists that humans aren’t only full of illness. Humans also have a lot of character.The book laid out the following 24 character strengths:
In his book Flourish, Martin Seligman, the founder of the field of positive psychology (and my boss), argued that the five fundamental elements of well-being are: