Character strength · Wisdom
Perspective (wisdom): the character strength explained
The short answer: perspective, often simply called wisdom, is the ability to see the big picture and to give sound advice, to yourself and to others. It is less about knowing facts than about knowing what matters. It is one of the 24 character strengths of the VIA classification, in the Wisdom family: the strengths of the mind.
What perspective looks like
People with a lot of perspective tend to:
- are the person friends call when something goes wrong
- can step back from a heated moment and see what is really at stake
- draw on their own past mistakes to help someone else
- ask questions that help others reach their own answer
- are rarely thrown by small problems
In everyday life
At work, perspective is the colleague who, in the middle of a panic, asks "will this matter in six months?" and is usually right. In families, it is the person who can see why both sides of an argument feel the way they do.
Perspective tends to grow with experience, but it is not the same as age. Some people show it early, and some never quite develop it.
Perspective and the strengths close to it
- Judgment weighs the evidence in one decision. Perspective places that decision in the wider shape of a life.
- Social intelligence reads what people feel. Perspective helps them see what to do about it.
- Love of learning supplies knowledge; perspective is knowing how to use it.
When perspective is overdone, or underused
Like every strength, perspective works best in the right amount. Overdone, perspective can sound like unasked-for advice, or a calm detachment that others take for not caring. Underused, every setback feels like the end of the world, and it is easy to lose sight of what you really value.
The aim is wisdom offered when it is wanted, and used on your own life too.
Is perspective one of your top strengths?
Ask yourself:
- Do people seek you out for advice, even about things you have no formal training in?
- In a crisis, are you usually the one who sees what actually matters?
- Can you explain both sides of most disagreements fairly?
If you answered yes to most of these, perspective 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.