Social Intelligence and Flourishing | Seminar

This seminar explores the VIA character strength of Social Intelligence as a core contributor to flourishing within higher education contexts. Social intelligence refers to the ability to accurately perceive, understand, and respond to the emotions, motivations, and social cues of others. In university environments—where collaboration, diversity, and interpersonal dynamics shape academic and personal success—this strength plays a critical role in communication, teamwork, leadership, and inclusive engagement. Drawing on character strengths research and applied positive psychology, the seminar examines the benefits of social intelligence, including improved communication, enhanced empathy, stronger relationships, effective teamwork, and constructive leadership. Participants reflect on the optimal use, underuse, and overuse of this strength, and explore practical strategies for developing social awareness, active listening, cultural sensitivity, and relational balance. Through reflection, discussion, and application-based exercises (including implementation intentions and WOOP planning), students are invited to strengthen their ability to navigate social complexity with awareness, empathy, and thoughtful responsiveness supporting both individual flourishing and collective wellbeing on campus. Learning Outcomes By the end of this seminar, participants will be able to: Define social intelligence within the VIA character strengths framework and explain its relevance to academic and professional development. Identify key components of social intelligence, including empathy, perspective-taking, emotional awareness, and adaptive communication. Differentiate between optimal use, underuse, and overuse of social intelligence in university contexts. Recognize common social challenges (e.g., conflict, cultural differences, group dynamics, social anxiety) and apply strengths-based strategies to navigate them constructively. Apply practical tools (such as active listening, reflective questioning, and implementation intentions) to enhance interpersonal effectiveness. Develop a personal action plan for strengthening social intelligence in academic, leadership, and community settings.