VIA Assessments
In addition to the main VIA Surveys (VIA Adult Survey and VIA Youth Survey) that are offered for free on the VIA website to the general public, VIA also makes a number of other assessments freely available to researchers as a means to advance the science of character. Click on the individual assessment name to see the related psychometric information, appropriate citation and status of available translations.
VIA Assessments Guidelines for Use and Interpretation
The Revised VIA Adult Assessments
Ages 18+
In July 2017, the VIA Institute completed and released a substantial revision of the VIA Inventory of Strengths, as well as the development of several new scales. These new assessments are part of the VIA Assessment Suite for Adults. For each of these assessments signature strengths, 24 strength scales, 6 scales representing the Peterson and Seligman (2004) virtue model, and 3 scales representing the McGrath (2015) virtue model can be computed
***A complete Technical Report describing the Assessment Suite for Adults is available here.
To access and download these assessments, set up a Research Site here.
NOTE: Alternative Measurement Approach: The above measures pose a variety of behavioral, affective, and cognitive expressions for each strength and ask respondents to rate how much the statement is "like me." The following measures provide each strength definition and then ask respondents to use rating scales that reflect key definitional criteria for "signature strengths." As such, they look at each strength in terms of its degree of similarity to a signature strength.
The Original VIA Adult Assessments
Ages 18+
All scales have good reliability and accumulating validity (see psychometrics data), and are available in a variety of translations. All items on these versions are positively keyed. Signature strengths and 24 strengths scales can be computed. The number next to the name indicates the number of items in the scale.
To access and download these assessments, set up a Research Site here.
NOTE: The VIA Institute considers both the VIA-120 and VIA-72 substantially equivalent to the original long version as to internal consistency reliability and validity measures described. However, each researcher will need to make their own determination.
Additional Assessment Suite Surveys
Ages 18+
To access and download these assessments, set up a Research Site here.
Virtues Survey
Ages 18+
Virtue scales are now available for both the 6 conceptually derived virtues described by Peterson and Seligman (2004) – Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Transcendence – and the empirically derived 3 virtues described by McGrath (2015) – Caring, Inquisitiveness, and Self-Control. They can be administered as stand-alone measures. Virtue scales are also computed as part of the VIA-IS-R, VIA-IS-M, and VIA-IS-P surveys.
To access and download these assessments, set up a Research Site here.
NOTE: Different measurement approaches may come up with different results as a matter of measurement variance and error. For example, the set of signature strengths from the VIA-IS may differ from sets suggested by the VIA-IS-R, the new short forms, and the Signature Strengths Scale. Also, virtue scores derived from the VIA-IS-R may differ from those derived from the VIA-IS-M or VIA-IS-P.
The VIA Youth Survey
Ages 8-17
For each of these assessments, there are positively and negatively keyed items and 24 strength scales can be computed. The number next to the name indicates the number of items in the scale.
To access and download these assessments, set up a Research Site here.
Experimental Character Strength Surveys
The following measures have been shown to be promising in initial research studies. To access and download these assessments, set up a Research Site here.