Developmental Pathways & Student Alignment of Character Values:
Exploring Student Perspectives at a HSI
Anglin P. Thevaraja, Yasmine Perry, Jackie Novak, Elyse L. Postlewaite, & Elaine Les
Institute for Research on Youth Thriving and Evaluation, 2025
Why Does Character Alignment Matter?
Character alignment between students and their institution can enhance engagement, belonging, and ethical decision-making (Domingo et al., 2025).
A focus on character and values helps support moral identity & a sense of purpose (Lerner et al., 2005; Damon, 2004) and strengthens feelings of inclusion and belonging (Arthur, 2019).
Character & Character Strengths
Character: constellation of moral and psychological assets that guide ethical action (Berkowitz, 2012).
Character strengths or virtues: learned assets fostering personal and social flourishing.
Serve as foundations for thriving in community and moral life.
Developmental Pathways
Character can be shaped by multiple nested systems such as one’s school, family, media, government, political systems, and the economy (Bronfenbrenner, 1994).
For many students, especially first-gen and culturally diverse ones, character is deeply relational and shaped by family, culture, and community expectations (Syed et al., 2022).
College provides a critical context for reflection, connection, and growth (Narvaez & Lapsley, 2009).
Research Purpose & Questions
To understand how college students develop their character and how their values align with university values
RQ1: What are the developmental pathways through which students’ values are shaped?
RQ2: What institutional values are students most aligned with?
RQ1: What are the developmental pathways through which students’ values are shaped? (Interview Data)
RQ2: What are the top institutional values students are aligned with? (Focus Group Data)
RQ2: What are the institutional values students are aligned with? (Survey Data)
So what does it all mean?
Findings highlight the relational and institutional dimensions of character development.
Emphasis on personal growth and ethical action: highlights the importance of fostering an environment that supports students’ moral and character development.
Understanding student alignments can help institutions of higher education refine their character initiatives.
This project was made possible through the support of a grant from The Wake Forest University and the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wake Forest University or the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
