Table 3.

Adapted from Values in Action Classifications of character strengths

Virtues	Character strengths	Cultural adapted descriptions, pronouns and manifestations
Cognitive strengths	Creativity	Ingenuity, doing things in innovative ways, thinking in innovative and unique ways; seeing things in different ways
	Curiosity	Interested in all experiences; motivated to discover and explore new things; want to learn about unknown objects, environments or experiences of others
	Judgement and open-mindedness	The ability to think, understand, analyse, discern or judge rationally, independently and comprehensively; thinking carefully; defensive thinking
	Love of learning	Studious, be eager to learn, erudite, philomathic; mastering new skills; enjoy new knowledge, enjoy learning
	Perspective	Resourceful, wise, good at planning and handling things; excellent insight and vision, farsighted
Emotional strengths	Bravery	Fearless, courageous, heroic, resolute, brave and bold; not timid, not afraid of danger or difficulty, not shrinking back
	Perseverance	Persevere to the end, no slackness, still persevere after repeated failures; hardworking, not give up halfway; diligent, industrious
	Honesty	True, honest; integrity, sincere and earnest, whole-heartedly; being true to oneself and others
	Zest	Enthusiastic about things or others; vigorous vitality; vividness in action, thought or expression, energetic
Interpersonal strengths	Capacity to love and be loved	Valuing close relations with others; give love to others, be loved by others; feel the warmth, happiness, satisfaction and beauty in love, friendship, family affection, fraternity and other deep emotions for people and things
	Kindness	Benevolent, kind-hearted; generosity, nurturance, charitable; serving others without expectation
	Social intelligence	Emotional intelligence, aware of the motives and feelings of oneself and others; knowing how to get along can make others comfortable
Civic and community strengths	Teamwork	Working collaboratively and well as member of a team or a group, unite and work together to get better results; loyalty to team or group and working well with others
	Fairness	Righteousness, uprightness; not afraid of the strong, not bullying the weak, stick to the right way; treat everyone the same according to justice
	Leadership	Confucian leadership; influence others, improve the efficiency of the entire group and ensuring team harmony
	Selflessness*	Dedication, not self-interested; proud to serve the collective people and ashamed to deviate from the people, proud of unity and mutual assistance, ashamed of self-interest; devotion to family and country
Restrained and temperance strengths	Forgiveness and mercy	Forgive, ignore the faults of others; tolerant, considerate; not to care about wrongdoing or to hold accountable; compassion
	Modesty and humility	Modest, polite, humble; reserved, courteous, not exaggerating one’s ability or value; no boasting or arrogance, not complacent; willing to accept criticism and humbly ask people for advice
	Prudence	Be cautious about actions or choices; solemnly, careful; dependable, stable, calm and not anxious in situations
	Self-regulation	Self-control; disciplined, restraint; managing personal impulses, emotions, laziness and other bad habits
	Pragmatism*	Believe practice leads to true knowledge and wealth, believe actions speak louder than words, try to be practical, realistic, committed to the reality
Transcendence strengths	Appreciation of beauty and excellence	Appreciate, awe, fascinate and admire the beauty and excellence, and/or all outstanding skills, treasures or people
	Gratitude	Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happened, grateful, moved by the virtues of others, grateful for the kindness and favours of others, and seek ways to return
	Hope	Optimism, positive future mindedness, full of confidence in what is going on, open-minded and have good wishes for the future
	Humour	Funny, humorous, playfulness and enjoy talking witty, bring laughter and amusement to others
	Religiousness and spirituality	Faith, believe in religion, unwavering belief, a state of mind that has trust or trust in someone or something, extremely convinced of a certain thought, doctrine and as a personal belief

*Newly emerged themes in the current study.