UT Dallas students serve as subjects of award-winning character trait study

by PegNews wire

Jason Berrman of the University of CA - San Diego nabs the Seligman Award - with an assist from UTD's Bert Moore (and 298 UTD undergrads).

Students and faculty from the University of Texas at Dallas played key roles in a study conducted by Dr. Jason Berman of the University of California, San Diego exploring the relationship between character strengths and psychological well-being. The study netted Berman the Martin E.P. Seligman Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research in Positive Psychology, bestowed by the John Templeton Foundation.

Dr. Bert Moore is dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at UTD, and he served as faculty advisor to Dr. Berman on the dissertation project that ended up as the award-winning study. 298 UTD undergraduate students were canvassed for character strengths which were tied in to their psychological well-being - in essence, the study concludes that good people are happy, and it's their virtuous character traits which tend to make them that way.

Berman earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, but since that institution could not provide him with a dissertation advisor in the cutting-edge field of positive psychology, he hooked up with Dr. Moore of UTD (who has a joint teaching arrangement with both UTD and UT Southwestern). Among his peers Berman came to be known as the "happiness guy." (Better than the "prophet of doom guy," IMO.)

Says the grinning, capering Berman: "I am deeply encouraged that the best and the brightest within the field of psychology view my ideas and findings about character strengths as meaningful … and have included me in the international conversation about how a strength-centered life can contribute to individual, group and societal flourishing." As well he might be (encouraged): the Seligman comes with $1,000 cash, enough to make any sourpuss smile.

posted by JM