SEMESTER FALL 2020

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY(PSY409)

ASSIGNMENT No. 02

Assignment Objectives:

The purpose of this assignment is to make us work on a self-assessment wisdom instrument so

that they might analyze my personal wisdom profile. It also aims to guide us through the wisdom
concept and its applicability in daily life.

Assignment

Question

Introduction of Wisdom :

Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to think and act

using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated
with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, self-
transcendence and non-attachment, and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.
Wisdom has been defined in many different ways, including several distinct approaches to assess
the characteristics attributed to wisdom. The Oxford English Dictionary defines wisdom as
"Capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct; soundness of judgement in
the choice of means and ends; sometimes, less strictly, sound sense, esp. in practical affairs: opp.
to folly;" also "Knowledge (esp. of a high or abstruse kind); enlightenment, learning,
erudition." Charles Haddon Spurgeon defined wisdom as "the right use of knowledge" Robert I.
Sutton and Andrew Hargadon defined the "attitude of wisdom" as "acting with knowledge while
doubting what one knows". Psycanics defines wisdom as "the ability to foresee the consequences
of action" (allowing one to avoid negative consequences and produce the desired positive ones.)
In social and psychological sciences, several distinct approaches to wisdom exist, with major
advances made in the last two decades with respect to operationalization and measurement] of
wisdom as a psychological construct. Wisdom is the capacity to have foreknowledge of
something, to know the consequences (both positive and negative) of all the available course of
actions, and to yield or take the options with the most advantage either for present or future
implication. According to Plato and Xenophon, the Pythia of the Delphic Oracle answered the
question "who is the wisest man in Greece?" by stating Socrates was the wisest.According to
Plato's Apology, Socrates decided to investigate the people who might be considered wiser than
him, concluding they lacked true knowledge: Psychologists have begun to gather data on
commonly held beliefs or folk theories about wisdom Initial analyses indicate that although
"there is an overlap of the implicit theory of wisdom with intelligence, perceptiveness,
spirituality and shrewdness, it is evident that wisdom is an expertise in dealing with difficult
questions of life and adaptation to the complex requirements."
Characteristics and structure of SAWS scale. You may talk about the number and types of
its categories and the method of scoring.
Developmental and personality theories of wisdom have yielded self-report questions and
sentence completion tasks. The forms of wisdom involving expertise in the conduct and meaning
of life have been tapped via problem-solving tasks. Sternberg (1998) has proposed that wisdom
problems require a person to resolve conflicts, and he is working toward the development of a
formal, standardized test of wisdom. Consistent with his emphasis on pragmatism, Baltes has
constructed a series of difficult life problems.
A brief self-report measure of wisdom that includes Likert-type items recently was constructed
and validated for inclusion in the Values in Action Classification of Strengths (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004). The items are not linked to any of the aforementioned theories, however, and
they tap five aspects of wisdom:
• Curiosity
• Love of life
• Open-mindedness
• Creativity
• Perspective
Although all respondents complete the wisdom items, only people who have wisdom as one of
their top five strengths (out of 24) receive feedback on their capacity for wise living.
Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale (SAWS): Webster (2003)
Experience I have experienced many moral dilemmas
Emotion I am good at identifying subtle emotions within myself
Reminiscence Remembering my earlier days helps me gain insight into important life matters
Openness I like to read books which challenge me to think differently about issues
Humor There is nothing amusing about difficult situations

In which category of the SAWS scale did you score the highest? Name that category along
with your score and briefly explain it with the help of an example from your daily life in
which you have shown similar behavior
Monika Ardelt’s 3D-WS (Ardelt, 2000, 2003, 2011) d e fi n e s w i s -
dom as the combination of a cognitive (14 items), reflective (12
items), and affective dimension (13 items). Of the items, 24 are
presented with a 5-point response scale from “definitely true of
myself ” to “not true of myself,” and 15 are presented with a 5-
point Likert scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
The German 3D-WS was provided by the scale author, who is
a n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f G e r m a n . Ardelt (2003) reported
Cronbach ’s
alphas from 0.71 to 0.85 for the three dimensions and a 10-month
test-retest correlation of 0.85. The 3D-WS is positively related to
mastery, purpose in life, forgiveness, and well-being, and nega-
tively to depression, economic pressure, death avoidance, and fear
of death. It is unrelated to gender, negatively correlated to age, and
positively c orrelated to education
Monika Ardelt’s 3D-WS (Ardelt, 2000, 2003, 2011) d e fi n e s w i s -
dom as the combination of a cognitive (14 items), reflective (12
items), and affective dimension (13 items). Of the items, 24 are
presented with a 5-point response scale from “definitely true of
myself ” to “not true of myself,” and 15 are presented with a 5-
point Likert scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
The German 3D-WS was provided by the scale author, who is
a n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f G e r m a n . Ardelt (2003) reported
Cronbach ’s
alphas from 0.71 to 0.85 for the three dimensions and a 10-month
test-retest correlation of 0.85. The 3D-WS is positively related to
mastery, purpose in life, forgiveness, and well-being, and nega-
tively to depression, economic pressure, death avoidance, and fear
of death. It is unrelated to gender, negatively correlated to age, and
positively c orrelated to education
Monika Ardelt’s 3D-WS (Ardelt, 2000, 2003, 2011) d e fi n e s w i s -
dom as the combination of a cognitive (14 items), reflective (12
items), and affective dimension (13 items). Of the items, 24 are
presented with a 5-point response scale from “definitely true of
myself ” to “not true of myself,” and 15 are presented with a 5-
point Likert scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
The German 3D-WS was provided by the scale author, who is
a n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f G e r m a n . Ardelt (2003) reported
Cronbach ’s
alphas from 0.71 to 0.85 for the three dimensions and a 10-month
test-retest correlation of 0.85. The 3D-WS is positively related to
mastery, purpose in life, forgiveness, and well-being, and nega-
tively to depression, economic pressure, death avoidance, and fear
of death. It is unrelated to gender, negatively correlated to age, and
positively c orrelated to education
Monika Ardelt’s 3D-WS (Ardelt, 2000, 2003, 2011) d e fi n e s w i s -
dom as the combination of a cognitive (14 items), reflective (12
items), and affective dimension (13 items). Of the items, 24 are
presented with a 5-point response scale from “definitely true of
myself ” to “not true of myself,” and 15 are presented with a 5-
point Likert scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
The German 3D-WS was provided by the scale author, who is
a n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f G e r m a n . Ardelt (2003) reported
Cronbach ’s
alphas from 0.71 to 0.85 for the three dimensions and a 10-month
test-retest correlation of 0.85. The 3D-WS is positively related to
mastery, purpose in life, forgiveness, and well-being, and nega-
 tively to depression, economic pressure, death avoidance, and fear
of death. It is unrelated to gender, negatively correlated to age, and
positively c orrelated to education
Monika Ardelt’s 3D-WS (Ardelt, 2000, 2003, 2011) d e fi n e s w i s -
dom as the combination of a cognitive (14 items), reflective (12
items), and affective dimension (13 items). Of the items, 24 are
presented with a 5-point response scale from “definitely true of
myself ” to “not true of myself,” and 15 are presented with a 5-
point Likert scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
The German 3D-WS was provided by the scale author, who is
a n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f G e r m a n . Ardelt (2003) reported
Cronbach ’s
alphas from 0.71 to 0.85 for the three dimensions and a 10-month
test-retest correlation of 0.85. The 3D-WS is positively related to
mastery, purpose in life, forgiveness, and well-being, and nega-
tively to depression, economic pressure, death avoidance, and fear
of death. It is unrelated to gender, negatively correlated to age, and
positively c orrelated to education

I am did highest score in Perspective category of the SAWS scale. I have 99% score in
perspective. The examples of perspective in my daily life is A friend feels like his or her life
is bland and boring. A humanistic approach would encourage the person to do some soul-
searching and determine what is missing. It might be a hobby, friendships or something else.
Whatever it takes for the person to feel fully self-actualized is what should be sought as a
potential solution.

A humanistic approach to helping someone build self-esteem would involve encouraging a

person to focus on their strengths rather than their faults. By focusing on strengths and building
on them, the person is able to work toward a more satisfied and complete life.

When friends express feeling frustration because they perceive others as being better off, using a
humanistic approach would involve helping them think through and identify what is good in their
lives and encouraging them to focus on what they have rather than being concerned with others.

Rather than avoiding someone who is different from you, make a point of getting to know that
individual and including him or her in activities. This might apply to a new person in class or the
neighborhood, someone of a different religion or race, someone whose first language is different
from yours, or any other difference. And the other side I am a teacher that my Perspective as a
teacher in class is following:
1. Making time to collaborate with other educators.
2. Co-planning lessons with other teachers.
3. Evaluating student needs and wants regularly.
4. Connecting with parents to help meet specific student needs.
 How can we enhance wisdom in our daily life

Wisdom is a virtue that isn’t innate, but can only be acquired through experience. Anyone who is
interested in trying new things and reflecting on the process has the ability to gain wisdom. By
learning as much as you can, analyzing your experiences and putting your knowledge to the test,
you can become a wiser person. We enhance wisdom in daily life by following ways:
1. Try new things.

It's hard to gain wisdom when you stay in and do the same thing day after day. You get wiser
when you put yourself out there and give yourself the opportunity to learn, make mistakes and
reflect on the experience.
 Going to places you've never been before is a great way to get some life experience. Such
as booking a trip to another city, or taking a road trip to the next town over. Make an effort to eat
at a restaurant that's popular with the locals, rather than going to your favorite chain. Every
chance you get, choose newness over the familiar.
 
2. Talk to people you don't know. 
 Talk to people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives from yours, and pay
attention to what you can learn from them. Try not to judge them based on your own narrow
point of view. The more you're able to empathize with others, the wiser you will be.[2]
 Practice being a good listener, and ask a lot of questions to find out more. Really pay
attention to what people are saying instead of letting your mind wander. Every conversation
gives you the chance to understand someone better, broaden your views and thus become wiser.
3. Do it the hard way.
One of the most effective ways to increase wisdom is to do things the hard way. For example,
while driving to work, turn off that GPS system. Use your God-given brain cells to figure out
where you are. When you’re trying to research something, don’t google it on the internet. Make
it harder for yourself so your mind will be force to think creatively. Technology is one of the
biggest culprits to decreased cognitive function because they make certain tasks so much easier.
If you want to become wiser, try old-school methods. Do it the hard way.

4. Make mistakes.
Experience makes us wiser. Our mistakes make us better people in a lot of different ways. So
don’t e afraid to take risks and commit errors. When we make mistakes, we learn faster and more
permanently. And eventually, when you encounter the same situation again in the future, you’ll
know better.

5. Share your wisdom with others.

That’s not to say you should tell people what to do; rather, lead by example. Show others the
wisdom of being open, nonjudgmental and thoughtful in all situations. Think about the mentors
 who helped you along the way, and find ways to play that role for other people who might be
able to benefit from what you've learned.
 If someone asks for advice, do your best to point them in the direction that seems right.
Don’t let your personal desires cloud your advice.

The end