Chapter 9- Textbook Flashcards
____ is a way of describing optimal well-being
Wisdom
____ philosophy says that wisdom is the ultimate goal of life
Greek
What does Jewish tradition say about wisdom?
That it’s a venerated quality associated with a highly ethical life
What did research psychologists traditionally say about wisdom?
Research psychologists traditionally avoided the topic of wisdom
Wisdom implies having a type of knowledge that can be described as what three things?
Social, interpersonal, and psychological
True or false: Wisdom is easy for the average person to attain
False; it’s difficult
Webster measures wisdom with what 5 components?
Openness to experience, emotional regulation, healthy coping with critical life
experiences, reminiscence and reflectiveness, and a self-effacing sense of
humor that recognizes life ironies
What are Wink and Helseon’s two forms of wisdom?
Practical wisdom and transcendental wisdom
Define practical wisdom
Good interpersonal skills, clarity of thinking, greater tolerance, and generativity
Define transcendental wisdom
It deals with the limits of knowledge, the rich complexity of the human
experience, and a sense of transcending the personal and individual aspects
of human experience
Kunzmann and Strange define wisdom as what three things?
Mature personality development, as postformal reasoning, and as an
expanded form of pragmatic or practical intelligence.
List Bangen, Meeks, and Jeste’s elements or traits usually associated with wisdom
Knowledge of life, prosocial values,
self-understanding, emotional homeostasis, tolerance, openness, self-understanding, and a sense of humor.
Describe wisdom as a stage of cognitive thought
Beyond formal operational thinking; the ability to think not just rationally or abstractly, but being able to hold multiple opposing abstract ideas in your mind at the same time.
Researchers describe wisdom by referencing what?
Qualities
Wisdom is partially driven by what?
A fear of appearing foolish
Describe Bassett’s theory of emergent wisdom
The idea that wisdom emerges out of a complex series of interactions among various wisdom-related capacities and
abilities.
Describe Solomon’s paradox
The idea that oftentimes people are wiser in dealing with other peoples’ problems than in dealing with their own issues
Wisdom as the “master virtue” was described by whom?
Aristotle
Describe wisdom as a master virtue
The idea that wisdom is knowing when to use all other virtues
Describe Fowers’ five character types
People move from very simple ways to thinking about virtues to more complicated: ignore the virtues (beastly phase), know what the virtues are but have trouble using them (incontinent), when what you know is right matches up with your behavior (virtuous)
Wise people pursue the “good life” by _____ strategies
eudaimonic
True or false: Wisdom isn’t the inevitable outcome of aging
True
Wisdom is most often seen in what age group?
Middle-aged people
How can advanced age hinder wisdom?
Certain age-related changes, such as not liking change or new things, may be a hindrance to wisdom unless one actively pursues is development
Relationship between age and wisdom is specific to what?
culture
Describe the relationship between wisdom and IQ
They’re positively correlated, but not the same thing
Wisdom is significantly correlated with what 4 factors of wellbeing?
Life satisfaction
Sense of mastery
Purpose in life
Greater physical well-being for both men and women
Wise people prefer what kind of conflict-management styles?
Cooperative conflict-management styles
What does Erik Erikson say about wisdom?
It’s his last stage of the virtue of life and ego conflict
How can you cultivate wisdom?
Practicing dialectical and reflective thinking skills about difficult problems
Empathy and compassion are necessary aspects of wisdom
Greater emotional regulation
True or false: Wisdom is easy to teach
False; it is incredibly difficult
How does Adler define social interest?
A feeling of intimate relationship with humanity, empathy with the human
condition, and a sense of altruism
What are two necessary aspects of wisdom?
Empathy and compassion
What does Jung believe about individuation?
That it leads to the development
and refinement of what Jung called the self archetype, which is the
archetype of inherent wholeness for the personality
How does Fromm describe escape
mechanisms?
Unhealthy ways of dealing with fundamental anxiety; attempts to avoid real issues or hide from the necessary struggle of facing one’s fears openly and
honestly
How does Fromm describe the productive orientation?
The production of the true self; this process entails dealing honestly with life’s basic dichotomies and paradoxes
Fromm asserted that
optimal mental health involves an orientation toward what?
Being
Define the being orientation according to Fromm
The spontaneous expression of one’s total self when it is created from a position
of complete openness to and awareness of experience
What is the opposite of the being orientation according to Fromm?
The having orientation
Define the having orientation according to Fromm
It hides isolation and anxiety behind possessions, rigid beliefs, and diversions designed to protect people from, rather than reveal the truth
What things does From say is necessary to move towards being?
Will one thing, be fully awake, and be aware of psychological experiences, the ability to concentrate, and the ability to meditate
How does May define daimonic?
Any emotional response that has the power to take us over completely
Frankl, a psychiatrist imprisoned in a concentration camp, came up with the term “will to meaning”. How does he define it?
The search for meaning in one’s life; he argues that this is our primary drive
Frankl’s ideal of optimal psychological well-being is the self-transcendent person. How does he describe this state?
Someone able to rise above self-focused concerns to obtain higher meaning and purpose. Specifically, meaning is found in
three ways: 1) by doing a deed or taking action, 2) by deeply experiencing,
or 3) by suffering.
How does Wong define the meaning mind-set?
A person’s overarching collection of
motivations, worldviews, purposes, and assumptions about the good life.
For Wong, a search for meaning and
fulfillment that values both positive and negative emotions and allows a
sense of tragic optimism will help create what he calls what?
Mature happiness, also called noetic happiness
Define mature happiness according to Wong
A sense of well-being characterized
by acceptance, inner serenity, harmony, and contentment, as well as being at
peace with oneself, with others, and the world
What does Wong’s PURE acronym stand for?
The P is purpose or having goals and
aspirations, the U is understanding or self-knowledge and finding your place
in the world, the R is responsibility or acting in ways that are consistent
with your values, and the E is a need for self-evaluation to authenticity and
efficacy.
Define authenticity
A emphasis on valid knowledge of our
interior lives and psychological realities; involves honest presentation of oneself to other people.
Define unbiased processing
An ability to see oneself without undue distortion, bias, or illusions
Define illusory mental health
A sense of well-being based on
distorted self-perceptions
How does Rogers define the self-actualizing tendency?
The idea that we all have an innate need to develop our potentials
How does Rogers describe the fully functioning person?
The fully functioning person exhibits 1) openness to
experiences, 2) existential living, and 3) trust in one’s own organismic
experiences. This results in 4) a sense of freedom and 5) enhanced
creativity
Define emodiversity
The emotional ecosystem
How does Maslow describe self-actualization?
The full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, and potentialities
How does Bauer describe the quiet ego?
The degree of egocentricity or self-centeredness found in a person’s sense of self, self-concept, or self-identity. A person who has a “quieter” ego interprets one’s own sense of self as more interdependent, internal, complex, and abstract and better able to recognize the subtler qualities of human experience
How does Robitschek describe the idea of personal growth initiative?
Active, intentional engagement in the process of personal growth
What are the 6 criteria of Jahoda’s ideal
mental health?
1) Attitudes toward the self
2) Growth, development, and self-actualization
3) An integrated personality
4) Autonomy
5) Perception of reality
6) Environmental mastery
Define Maslow’s Jonah Complex
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond measure.”
