Lecture 6 Virtues and Character Strengths

Lecture 6 Virtues & Character Strengths What are the strengths that humans possibly have? What is wisdom? How to achieve it? A. VÍA Character Strengths and Virtues B. Strengths and Well-being C. Wisdom VÍA Character Strengths and Virtues Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM) ● Pathology focused Peterson & Seligman (2004) ● Aim to develop an Antithesis of the DSM and ● Provides a common language for strengths or“a manual of the sanities” (Easterbrook, 2001, p. 23) Developing a classification of strengths is complex. 24 character strengths were selected and organized around 6 virtues. "Values in Action Inventory" VIA 6 Virtues Virtues are the core defining features of good character valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers. (1) Wisdom (2) Courage (3) Temperance (4) Humanity (5) Justice (6) Transcendence They are selected because they appear to be universal across history and across societies. They represent moral virtues as defined by most religions and ethical philosophies. Each virtue is defined by a set of character strengths. 24 Character Strengths Character strengths are the ingredients, expressions, and potential means of developing the virtue. ● For example, the virtue of wisdom can be achieved through such strengths as creativity, curiosity, love of learning, open-mindedness Wisdom ● Entails cognitive strengths that involve the acquisition of knowledge and the use of reason to enhance well-being. Defining Strengths Of Wisdom 1. Creativity 2. Curiosity 3. Judgment 4. Love of Learning 5. Perspective Creativity : Originality; adaptive; ingenuity ● Originality ○ Able to produce ideas or behaviors that are recognizably original. ■ i.e. novel, surprising, or unusual ● The behaviors or ideas must also be adaptive. ○ Bizarre hallucinations and delusions is not improving Life ● Ingenuity able to generate creative solutions to the various problems they encounter at both home and work. Curiosity:Interest,novelty-seeking ● Interest: represent one's intrinsic desire for experience and knowledge ○ When we are interested in something,we initiate and sustain goal-directed behaviors. ● Novelty-seeking: seeking of new or higher stimulation ○ Engages in novel fantasies, feelings, ideas, and values ○ one may be willing to endure high levels of risk (e.g., pain and injuries when rock climbing, rejection when meeting new people) Open-mindedness: appreciate different ideas ● Opposite → myside bias: the pervasive tendency to think in ways that favor one’s current views ● Critical Thinking: looks at the problem from all angles ● Thinking things through rationally: examines all of the available evidence, can change his or her mind in light of new evidence, and finally reaches a balanced judgement. Love of Learning: Mastering new skills & topics ● Cognitively Engaged: engage new information and skills in general or particular content ● Feels positive in the process of learning ○ it helps people to persist in the face of setbacks, challenges, and negative feedback ● May or may not result in immediate achievement or benefit, yet over time a person may develop a deeper or wider knowledge of contents Perspective: Wisdom; providing wise counsel; taking the big picture view ● Distinct from intelligence ● Self-knowledge ● Able to see larger patterns of meaning or relationship ● Able to see the heart of problems Courage Entails emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition and adversity. ● Examples ○ confronting and accepting one’s own death ○ dealing with a debilitating illness or disease Defining Strengths Of Courage 1. Bravery 2. Perseverance 3. Integrity 4. Vitality Bravery : Valor ; not shrinking from fear; speaking up for what’s right ● to voluntarily act, perhaps fearfully, ○ where the relevant risks are reasonably appraised ○ in an effort to obtain or preserve some perceived good ■ A murderer that takes risk to accomplish crime is rarely considered brave Perseverance: finishing what one starts ● voluntary continuation of goal-directed action in spite of obstacles, difficulties, or discouragement. ● Not attitude or belief (vs. action) Integrity:truthfulness ● comes from the Latin integritas, meaning wholeness, untouched, and entire. ● A person with integrity is true to themselves, accurately representing—privately and publicly—their internal states, intentions, and commitments. ○ factual truthfulness ○ Emotional genuineness ○ Interpersonal sincerity Vitality:subjective experience of energy and aliveness ● experiences of volition and effectance Temperance Entails strengths of self that control excesses and restrain impulses that may harm the self and others. ● Exercise willpower in the face of temptations ○ e.g. eating, drinking, smoking, expression of anger, hatred, or arrogance toward others. ● ongoing awareness and self-discipline that affirms the “look before you leap” dictum of everyday wisdom Defining Strengths Of Temperance 1. Forgiveness 2. Humility 3. Prudence 4. Self-regulation Forgiveness: accepting others shortcoming; giving people a second chance ■ a suite of prosocial changes that occur within an individual who has been offended or damaged by a relationship partner ■ When people forgive, their basic motivations or action tendencies regarding the transgressor become more positive(e.g., benevolent, kind, generous) and less negative (e.g., vengeful, avoidant). Humility: Modesty an accurate sense of one's abilities and achievements (not underestimated) ● letting one's accomplishments speak for themselves ● the ability to acknowledge one's mistakes and imperfections ● openness to new ideas, contradictory information, and advice Prudence: cautious, not taking undue risks ● Has a farsighted and deliberative concern for the consequences of their actions and decisions ● could resist impulses and other choices that satisfy shorter term goals at the expense of longer term ones Self-regulation:Self-control; disciplined, managing impulses and emotions ● a person exerts control over his or her own impulses so as to pursue goals and live up to standards ○ Most acts of self-regulation involve stopping the self from having a response, such as when a dieter refrains from eating a tempting but fattening food ○ Some instances of self-regulation that entail initiating a response ■ A sleepy man drags himself out of bed on a cold morning.