The strengths of Mexicans, an analysis from self-perception Las fortalezas de los mexicanos, un análisis desde la autopercepción

Abstract

The study of virtues and character strengths developed under a positive psychology framework by Peterson & Seligman (2004), has served to identify the positive traits that could help individuals to bounce back when experiencing risk factors that could otherwise affect their well-being. Aim: The present study aims to identify the most prevalent strengths within a sample of Mexican people, and their possible concordance with previous models that have characterized the Mexican. Method: Participants from this study completed the Inventario de Fortalezas y Virtudes (Inventory of Strengths and Virtues) (IFyV; Castro y Consentino, 2008) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The participants were 608 people residents from the Metropolitan Zone of Guadalajara. Results: The most prevalent self-perceived strengths were: integrity, kindness, gratitude, perspective and fairness. On the other hand, the least prevalent self-perceived strengths were: self-regulation, love/eagerness to learn, modesty, civility and humor. Gender differences were also found on 9 of the 24 evaluated strengths, in which women reported higher scores than men. Results are discussed by contrasting current results with previous findings of studies carried out with other cultural groups, and also analyzing their accordance with the previous models that identified the positive traits of the Mexican population.