Exploring the relationship between character strengths and meditation: A cross-sectional study among long-term practitioners of Sahaja Yoga meditation

A growing body of research has associated the practice of meditation with the
development of character strengths. Sahaja Yoga (SY) is a spiritual practice
designed to help people develop a set of character strengths. The primary goal
of the current work is to determine whether practitioners of SY meditation
endorse signature strengths. Using the VIA Inventory of Strengths 120, we
conducted a survey to measure the character strengths among 310 daily practitioners of SY meditation and compared them to a matched sample from the database of the VIA Institute on Character. Practitioners of SY meditation
endorsed seven signature strengths, relative to non- meditators: spirituality,
forgiveness, gratitude, self-regulation, teamwork, appreciation of beauty, and
hope. Findings suggest that the practice of SY meditation may be related to a
unique and broad set of character strengths. The findings pave the way for
research identifying signature strength development in other group contexts.