Character strengths and academic performance in law students

• We examined character strengths in law students in relation to academic performance.
• Law students’ characteristics were comparable to other highly educated samples.
• Strengths related negatively to law school grades.
• Character may matter more for entry into law school than for success once there.

We examined law student character and academic performance. Incoming students from Emory University (N = 132) and American University (N = 164) completed the Values in Action Character Strengths Inventory. Strengths were compared to a sample of U.S. lawyers (N = 6,219) and six other samples (N = 135,814). Law students demonstrated a normal range of characteristics, similar to other highly educated groups. Top strengths included judgment, curiosity, love of learning, and fairness. Strengths were positively related to undergraduate grades, but negatively related to LSAT scores and law school grades. Findings suggest a selection effect, such that character matters more for entry into law school, at least on one main admission criterion, but matters less for academic success once there.