Psychology Today

The latest research shows how two character strengths build a healthier body.

Across two studies, the first with undergraduates and the second with a representative online sample of adults (average age 34 years old), Wilson and her collaborators administered both the CIVIC and a standard personality-trait measure. The authors used a standard self-report health measure, from which they selected these areas: physical and social functioning, mental health, energy/fatigue, limitations due to physical and emotional health, pain, and general perceptions of health.

In general, at least one character score (when separated from personality) predicted every outcome except for perceived health and role limitations due to physical health. Fortitude and temperance emerged in both studies as significant predictors of health outcomes. As the quality representing “determination and sense of optimism,” fortitude could be helpful in guiding people to take action to fix things when they experience health problems. Think about how you, or someone you know, might respond to chronic pain. Being high in fortitude would lead to behaviors such as finding effective pain management, deciding to understand what’s wrong that causes the pain, and feeling that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.