Character. We want it in our leaders, we seek it in our spouses and friends, we try to teach it to our children. The prevailing view is that it comes from hard work and due diligence. It’s cultivated; it’s stable. But if character is so stable, then why do we so often disagree over who’s got it and who doesn’t? Professor David DeSteno shows how science has turned prevailing wisdom upside down by revealing that character, vice, and virtue are predominantly shaped by forces outside of our awareness.