Temporal Organization of Intellectual Virtues among University Students: A Longitudinal Exploratory Study

Intellectual virtues—such as curiosity, attentiveness, carefulness, open-mindedness, and autonomy—are recognized as contributors to academic flourishing and character development in higher education. However, longitudinal evidence on how these virtues interact over time remains scarce. This study examined the temporal dynamics and interrelations of five intellectual virtues in 521 Argentine university students (58.5% female; ages 18–45) across two measurement waves using the Virtuous Intellectual Character Scale (VICS). Exploratory cross-lagged panel models were applied to investigate both contemporaneous associations and prospective relationships. Results indicated moderate to high temporal stability and positive associations among the virtues. Cross-lagged analyses revealed tentative evidence of a probabilistic developmental sequence, with curiosity as a potential foundational trait, attentiveness as a possible mediator, and open-mindedness, carefulness, and autonomy as downstream traits. Effect sizes were modest, suggesting these patterns reflect exploratory trends rather than strong causal pathways. The study contributes preliminary longitudinal evidence to the understanding of intellectual character and its temporal organization, providing a basis for future research with additional waves and diverse populations to clarify developmental trajectories and examine the generalizability of these tentative patterns.