Intelligence and wisdom: definitions, distinctions, and relationships

Psychology - Personality

WISE JUDGMENT SCENARIOS teenage girl is "in love" with her 17-year-old boyfriend. He is encouraging her to have sex with him saying that he will make sure they only have "protected" sex.

Rich Factual Knowledge: A rich factual knowledge analysis would emphasize the fact that teenage romance is almost always immature in various significant aspects. That point-of-view would suggest that what she is experiencing is not really "love" and that decisions predicated on that assumption would be unwise. Similarly, the rich factual knowledge analysis would also address the fact that the decision of progressing to sexual intercourse is more likely to be a healthy choice when both partners share the same curiosity, or enthusiasm, or apprehension.

On the other hand, where (as in this case) one partner is reluctant and the other is enthusiastic, the decision to have sex might not be in the best interest of the reluctant partner. The fact that the more enthusiastic partner is insensitive to the sentiments of the other suggests that their relationship might not represent a mature love, and/or that the enthusiastic partner might be using the other to fulfill selfish needs without considering her best interests. Finally, this perspective would suggest that protected sex is not foolproof.

Rich Procedural Knowledge:

rich factual knowledge analysis would emphasize the fact that virginity is almost always a much more significant issue to females than to males, at least in terms of the emotional consequences of choosing to become fully sexually active with the wrong person. That point-of-view would suggest that the progression to full sexual intercourse should be mutually desired to minimize the likelihood of regrets after the fact by the reluctant partner. According to this view, the same act of sexual intercourse would be much more advisable where one partner never needed to encourage the other.

Lifespan Contextualism: A lifespan contextualism analysis would emphasize that romantic relationships during adolescence are usually very different from more mature relationships.

Consequently, even though one's choice of partner at this particular time might seem like a good one, with the benefit of hindsight, many women wish later that they had not given their virginity to the particular person with whom they actually made that decision. Very often, adolescents who are sexually intimate will either have a serious falling out or simply drift apart completely within the next year or even the next few months.

In that light, the decision to become fully sexual too early and with the wrong person could be something that she will regret eventually. On the other hand, responding to her boyfriend that she isn't quite ready will provide a fairly accurate "test" of his character as measured by the way he responds and whether or not he remains interested in her anyway and continues to be sensitive toward her needs.

Relativism: The relativistic analysis would emphasize the extent to which different people have different priorities and perspectives. According to that point-of-view, the decision to become fully sexual might be right for some individuals and less advisable for others in the identical scenario. Whereas some girls might highly value their virginity and even hope to wait until their marriage to become sexual, other girls with different values, goals or priorities might be more comfortable with the decision to become sexual sooner. Uncertainty: The uncertainty analysis would emphasize that one can never accurately predict the consequences of decisions and their outcomes.

According to this perspective, the decision to become sexual right now could prove to be a good decision or a very bad decision but that would be determined by what happens afterwards; conversely, it is not possible to analyze that decision in advance. This point-of-view might suggest simply going with whatever feels right at the moment and making the best of whatever situation unfolded thereafter. Finally, while uncertainty might caution the girl to take precautions to avoid unwanted pregnancy, it could also consider even unwanted pregnancy as something that "happened for a reason" with unexpected benefits in the long-term. Decision: