ANN ARBOR—If you resolved to be a better person this year, you may have a lot of company. The results of a survey conducted by University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson suggest that, in some respects, Americans really have become kinder, more loving and more grateful since Sept. 11.

Peterson, who co-directs the Values in Action Institute, an organization founded as part of the growing positive psychology movement, recently analyzed more than 1,000 pre- and post-Sept. 11 responses to an online questionnaire (www.positivepsychology.org/strengths) designed to measure the extent to which people see themselves as having various character strengths, including curiosity, kindness, fairness, valor, hope, and humor.

Comparing 451 responses logged before Sept. 11 to 625 responses recorded from Sept. 12 to Nov. 30, 2001, Peterson and University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman found significant increases in the levels of six out of 24 character strengths: love, gratitude, hope, kindness, spirituality and teamwork. “All these strengths involve other people as well as reflecting beliefs about the meaning of life,” says Peterson. In fact, the theological virtues cited by St. Paul—faith, hope and charity—were precisely those that showed the greatest increase.”

This shift is in keeping with the predictions of “terror management theory,” Peterson notes, which holds that people “manage” the terror of confronting their own mortality by increasing their identification with values considered important in their culture.

Reported levels of only one character strength—love of learning—declined in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks. “This was only a very slight decline,” says Peterson, “and may reflect an understandable overload with media coverage of the terrorist attacks.”

Women’s reported strengths changed less than those of males, perhaps, Peterson speculates, because since women usually score higher than men in kindness, generosity and nurturance, women simply had less room for improvement. “Another way to view this gender difference,” he says, “is that men’s profile of character strengths became more similar to those of women, suggesting that all of us became more attuned to other people in the wake of Sept. 11.”

In general, he notes, older people score higher in authenticity and fairness than younger people, who tend to have higher levels of playfulness and humor. And overall, married people are more forgiving than their single counterparts.

Nearly four months later, the increases seem to have leveled off, Peterson points out. But it is not yet clear whether scores will drop to their pre-Sept. 11 levels or whether the changes will be more lasting. “Only time will tell,” says Peterson.

While the analysis supports anecdotal accounts of a broad surge in key character strengths, with Americans mobilizing a core set of inner strengths to deal with the attacks, Peterson cautions that the study has several limitations. “We had no control over who did and did not complete the questionnaire at different times,” he notes. “It’s possible that Sept. 11 didn’t change people, but influenced who did or did not log onto our Web site. We compared the demographic characteristics of those who responded before and after the attack, and found no major differences, but there might be other important differences in the two groups of people we’re contrasting.”

Still, Peterson notes, while the reported levels of some character strengths showed significant increases, the levels of many others remained stationary. “This wasn’t surprising in the case of such strengths as appreciation of beauty,” says Peterson. “But it was quite surprising that we didn’t find any changes in the case of other strengths, including bravery and mercy.”

Using data from the online questionnaire and other sources, Peterson and Seligman are working to classify human strengths and virtues, attempting, as Peterson explains, “to do for human strengths what the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association does for disorder and disease. So far, they have described and categorized 24 positive traits under six core moral virtues. [See below]

“Throughout most of its history, psychology has been concerned with identifying and remedying human ills,” notes Peterson. “But positive psychology wants to put as much emphasis on strength as weakness, on building the best things in life as repairing the worst, and on increasing the fulfillment of healthy people as healing the wounds of the distressed.”

This research and the Values in Action Institute were funded by the Mayerson Foundation.

The Values in Action Classification of Strengths

1. Wisdom and Knowledgecuriosity/interestlove of learningjudgment/critical thinking/open-mindednesspractical intelligence/creativity/originality/ingenuityperspective2. Couragevalorindustry/perseveranceintegrity/honest/authenticityzest/enthusiasm3. Loveintimacy/reciprocal attachmentkindness/generosity/nurturancesocial intelligence/personal intelligence/emotional intelligence4. Justicecitizenship/duty/loyalty/teamworkequity/fairnessleadership5. Temperanceforgiveness/mercymodesty/humilityprudence/cautionself-control/self-regulation6. Transcendenceawe/wonder/appreciation of beauty and excellencegratitudehope/optimism/future-mindednessplayfulness/humorspirituality/sense of purpose/faith/religiousness

Charts related to the research

Christopher Petersonwww.positivepsychology.org/strengthsMartin SeligmanDiagnostic and Statistical ManualCharts related to the research