The Three Female Characters in The Braid Under the Spotlight: A Character Strengths Analysis Through the Lens of Positive Psychology

Abstract

Positive psychology is a consequential movement that emphasises the positive aspects of individuals. Over the past few years, there is a marked increase in the number of studies on positive psychology in literature. In this sense, understanding character strengths, which are among the building blocks of positive psychology, is crucial. In this study, Laetitia Colombani's The Braid was examined in terms of character strengths in positive psychology. Employing the lens of character strengths, the lives of three women in the Colombani’s work were analysed, to offer a better understanding of the concept in question as well as to underscore its importance in our daily lives. This study is based on document analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research approaches. The data of the study were entered into QDA Miner Lite 3.0 programme and analysed. As a result, it was discovered that there were a total of 151 examples falling under 13 character strengths: hope, spirituality, courage, love, fairness, leadership, open-mindedness, love of learning, humility, curiosity, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, and creativity. Consequently, it seems viable to argue that the work The Braid contains examples of character strengths. The findings are discussed in the light of the literature, followed by implications for further research and limitations.