Virginia

Character, gratitude, service: words many of us grew up with, were taught led to a life of meaning, to a life well-led. To the field of psychology, however, they've held little currency in recent years. The path to self-esteem, it has taught, lies in self-discovery, self-evaluation, lots of self-hyphens.

They—those old words—may have some life left in them, it turns out.

A new resilience...