20 Years of Character Strengths: A Bibliometric Review

Character strengths were introduced into the positive psychology literature twenty years ago. The present bibliometric analysis quantitatively summarizes the research conducted in the field so far in terms of impact and themes analyzed. We conduct performance analysis to examine the total number of publications on character strengths, their bibliometric indices, the main journals contributing to the field, and the countries involved in such knowledge accumulation and how this has changed over time. We furthermore conduct science mapping analysis using the keywords of the papers. Specifically, we describe the time-varying occurrence of specific keywords and use network and thematic mapping analyses to determine the dynamic intercorrelations among the emerging research topics. Our results show the significant and growing contribution of character strengths to the positive psychology literature and beyond, but also the need for cross-fertilization with neighboring fields. We also highlight an increasing contribution from non-WEIRD countries in recent years, which calls for in-depth cross-cultural research. Topics such as measurement and well-being appear to be well-established and integrated, while there’s an emerging interest in mental health research. Overall, the present analysis illuminates on the past, present, and upcoming trends in the field.