Character strength · Humanity
Love as a character strength: meaning and examples
The short answer: love, as a character strength, is the capacity to value close relationships: to care deeply for others and, just as important, to let yourself be cared for. It covers friends and family as well as partners. It is one of the 24 character strengths of the VIA classification, in the Humanity family: the strengths of caring for others.
What love looks like
People with a lot of love tend to:
- have a few relationships they would describe as truly close
- show affection easily, in words or in actions
- make time for the people who matter, even when busy
- accept help and comfort without feeling awkward
- remember the details of other people's lives
In everyday life
At work, love shows up as the warm, lasting friendships people build with colleagues. In personal life, it is the phone call on a hard day, the meal cooked for a friend who is unwell, or simply being fully present at dinner.
The receiving side matters too. Some people give care freely but struggle to accept it; love as a strength includes both directions.
Love and the strengths close to it
- Kindness is care for anyone, including strangers. Love is care within close, lasting bonds.
- Gratitude notices what others give you. Love keeps the relationship that it comes from.
- Forgiveness helps close relationships survive the hurts that every relationship has.
When love is overdone, or underused
Like every strength, love works best in the right amount. Overdone, love can lean into dependence, jealousy, or neglecting yourself to look after others. Underused, people can feel lonely even when surrounded by others, and keep everyone at a polite distance.
The aim is closeness that goes both ways.
Is love one of your top strengths?
Ask yourself:
- Do you have people you could call at 3 a.m. who would pick up?
- Is it easy for you to say and show that you care?
- Can you accept help when you need it, without feeling you owe something back right away?
If you answered yes to most of these, love may be one of your signature strengths. The only way to know how it compares with your other 23 is to rank them.
Find your top strengths with the free test
Where this comes from
The 24 character strengths were described by psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman in Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (2004). Happy Me's assessment uses public-domain questions from the International Personality Item Pool and is not affiliated with the VIA Institute.