Skip to main content

Strengthquest- A book review by Sutton



STRENGTHQUEST: DISCOVER AND DEVELOP  



YOUR STRENGTHS IN ACADEMICS, CAREER,

AND BEYOND

By

   Donald O. Clifton &
   Edward Anderson

Reviewed by
   Geoffrey W. Sutton





I read and reviewed (Sutton, 2007b) the 2004 edition of this book published by Gallup. There is a new version (Second Edition), which includes a third author, Laurie Schreiner. The authors present their strength-based philosophy, which fits nicely with the concurrent trend in positive psychology (Sutton, 2007a). Others have shown how the strengths approach is compatible with Christianity (e.g., see Sutton, 2007c).
"A strength is the ability to provide consistent, near-perfect performance in a given activity (p. 8)."
The authors explain how talent, qua raw material, can be combined with knowledge and
skill to produce a unique pattern of strengths.

The book and the test have been revised. Overall, I think this approach to identifying personal strengths is a useful starting point in academic and vocational counseling. I also think it is a good reminder for those of us who worked in education and psychotherapy to ensure an adequate focus on the strengths of students and patients. I do not think we can ignore diagnoses, but I do think it is too easy to forget a person's strengths.

In addition to the review, I worked with colleagues on a strengths study, which was published in 2011 (see below).

References


Sutton, G. W. (2007a). [Review of the book Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths by C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez]. Journal of Christianity and Psychology, 26, 273-274.   Academia Link    ResearchGate Link

 Sutton, G. W. (2007b). [Review of the book StrengthsQuest: Discover and develop your strengths in academics, career, and beyond by D. Clifton & E. Anderson]. Journal of Christianity and Psychology, 26, 82-83.   Academia Link    ResearchGate Link  

Sutton, G. W. (2007c). Strengths and Christian Service. [Review of the book Living your strengths: Discover your God-given talents, and inspire your congregation and community by A. Winseman, D. Clifton, & C. Liesveld]. Unpublished manuscript available at https://www.academia.edu/11728647/Strengths_and_Christian_Service

Sutton, G. W., Phillips, S., Lehnert, A. B., Bartle, B. W., & Yokomizo, P. (2011). Strengths, academic self-efficacy, admission test scores, and GPA in a Christian university sample. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 30, 28-36.  Academia Link    Research Gate Link


Links to Connections

My Page    www.suttong.com

  

My Books  AMAZON          and             GOOGLE STORE

 

FOLLOW   FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

 

PINTEREST  www.pinterest.com/GeoffWSutton

 

Articles: Academia   Geoff W Sutton   ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE - A book review

  JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE How White Evangelicals        Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation By    Kristin Kobes Du Mez Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton   Kristin Kobes Du Mez begins and ends her assault on militaristic white American evangelical men with their contemporary sociopolitical leader, former president, Donald Trump. In the Introduction we learn the short doctrinal list of what it means to be a Bible-believing evangelical, but the author posits that American evangelicals are more than a set of theological statements. Instead, since the early 1900s they have embraced a John Wayne view of what it means to be a Christian man—a powerful warrior for country and God—a man who leads his troops into battle to uphold the values of God’s chosen people, the Americans. It was the title, Jesus and John Wayne , that was off-putting. I didn’t grow up with John Wayne films or a love of American westerns. I was after...
Post a Comment
Read more

Denial of Death and the Meaningful Life- Book Review

  The Denial of Death   by Ernest Becker A Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton The prospect of death, Dr. Johnson said, wonderfully concentrates the mind. The main thesis of this book is that it does much more than that: the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity—activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man.  — Ernest Becker, xvii I completed a recent reading of this old classic yesterday (13 December, 2015) because I was interested in Becker’s contribution to Terror Management Theory, which I find so helpful in understanding the ways U.S. leaders are publicly responding to terrorist activities. Becker’s ideas are more than forty years old and many have not withstood the test of time. However, his basic premise that we deny the reality of death in many ways...
3 comments
Read more

Progressive Christianity - Book List Reviews or Summaries

  The Way Understanding Progressive Christianity Book Reviews One way to understand a movement is to read what the leaders have written. The progressive Christian movement, like any Christian movement, can be difficult to describe in detail because there is no one authoritative body or voice. Instead, there are many voices. I hesitate to offer too many descriptive statements because there are surely some who will disagree. Nevertheless, I will list a few trends then list some of the books by writers with progressive perspectives. See the book reviews by clicking the highlighted titles below. Progressive Christians emphasize: A focus on the life and teachings of Jesus when interpreting scripture and thinking morally about current social issues. An appreciation of what it means to truly love God and one’s neighbour as oneself when it comes to compassionate behaviour and promoting justice for all. A commitment to following Jesus' example of meeting the immediate needs of peo...
Post a Comment
Read more