A Descriptive and Comparative Study of University Students' Character Strength Profiles in a Collectivistic Cultural Context

Character strengths are central constructs in positive psychology, yet empirical evidence from collectivistic cultural contexts remains limited. This study aims to examine the distribution of the 24 character strengths and to compare character strength profiles between male and female university students. The participants consisted of 285 undergraduate students recruited from several private universities in Semarang, Indonesia, using an incidental sampling technique. The research instrument was the 72-item Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-72) developed by Peterson and Seligman (2004). Validity testing using Corrected Item–Total Correlation indicated that all items met the validity criteria, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.320 to 0.661. Reliability analysis demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.966. Data were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistical methods. Descriptive findings revealed that kindness, teamwork, appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, and fairness were the five highest character strengths across the total sample. Specifically, male students showed the highest scores in teamwork, kindness, fairness, appreciation of beauty and excellence, and humor, whereas female students scored highest in kindness, gratitude, appreciation of beauty and excellence, teamwork, and fairness. Comparative analysis using the Mann–Whitney U test identified statistically significant gender differences in four character strengths – open-mindedness, bravery, social intelligence, and humor – although the observed effect sizes ranged from small to moderate. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of university students’ character strength profiles within the Indonesian higher education context and offer practical implications for the development of strength-based student interventions and educational programs.