NBHWC Positive Psychology and Wellbeing 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The VIA Classification of Character Strengths identifies how many core character strengths?
- 12
- 18
- 24 (Correct answer)
- 30
Correct answer: 24
The VIA (Values in Action) Classification, developed by Peterson and Seligman, identifies 24 character strengths organized under six broad virtues.
Question 2: In the context of positive psychology coaching, 'flourishing' refers to:
- Achieving financial success and career advancement
- Experiencing a high level of wellbeing across multiple life domains (Correct answer)
- Living free from any negative emotions
- Maintaining peak physical fitness
Correct answer: Experiencing a high level of wellbeing across multiple life domains
Flourishing in positive psychology means living within an optimal range of wellbeing across emotional, psychological, and social dimensions, not the absence of negativity.
Question 3: A wellness coach encouraging a client to identify their 'signature strengths' is drawing on which tool?
- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- The VIA Survey of Character Strengths (Correct answer)
- The Enneagram
- The Big Five Personality Inventory
Correct answer: The VIA Survey of Character Strengths
The VIA Survey is the standard tool used in positive psychology to help individuals identify their top character strengths, known as signature strengths.
Question 4: Which emotion regulation concept involves accepting negative emotions without judgment rather than suppressing them?
- Cognitive reframing
- Emotional avoidance
- Mindful acceptance (Correct answer)
- Positive reappraisal
Correct answer: Mindful acceptance
Mindful acceptance involves acknowledging and allowing negative emotions to exist without judgment or suppression, which is a core concept in both mindfulness and positive psychology.
Question 5: The 'broaden-and-build' theory of positive emotions, proposed by Barbara Fredrickson, suggests that positive emotions:
- Narrow attention to immediate threats
- Broaden awareness and build lasting personal resources (Correct answer)
- Are less important than negative emotions for survival
- Only benefit mental health, not physical health
Correct answer: Broaden awareness and build lasting personal resources
Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory proposes that positive emotions broaden one's momentary thought-action repertoires and, over time, build enduring physical, intellectual, social, and psychological resources.
Question 6: When a coach helps a client reframe a setback as a learning opportunity, this technique aligns with which positive psychology concept?
- Learned helplessness
- Post-traumatic growth (Correct answer)
- Cognitive distortion
- Emotional suppression
Correct answer: Post-traumatic growth
Post-traumatic growth (PTG) refers to positive psychological change experienced as a result of struggling with highly challenging life circumstances, which includes reframing adversity as opportunity.
Question 7: Psychological capital (PsyCap) in coaching includes which four core components?
- Intelligence, motivation, creativity, and resilience
- Hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism (Correct answer)
- Confidence, persistence, adaptability, and courage
- Purpose, engagement, relationships, and meaning
Correct answer: Hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism
Psychological capital (PsyCap), developed by Luthans and colleagues, comprises Hope, Efficacy (self-efficacy), Resilience, and Optimism — often remembered with the acronym HERO.
NBHWC Positive Psychology and Wellbeing 2
The VIA Classification of Character Strengths identifies how many core character strengths?