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Week4 Day7. Assignment. Wise Judgment Scenario

The document discusses a scenario involving a teenage girl pressured by her boyfriend to have sex, analyzing it through the lens of wise judgment components such as factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, lifespan contextualism, recognition of uncertainty, and relativism. It emphasizes the importance of considering the potential risks and responsibilities associated with sexual activity, as well as the need for mutual respect in relationships. Ultimately, the author concludes that the girl should prioritize her values and goals over the pressure from her boyfriend.

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Vee J. Kiser
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7 views

Week4 Day7. Assignment. Wise Judgment Scenario

The document discusses a scenario involving a teenage girl pressured by her boyfriend to have sex, analyzing it through the lens of wise judgment components such as factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, lifespan contextualism, recognition of uncertainty, and relativism. It emphasizes the importance of considering the potential risks and responsibilities associated with sexual activity, as well as the need for mutual respect in relationships. Ultimately, the author concludes that the girl should prioritize her values and goals over the pressure from her boyfriend.

Uploaded by

Vee J. Kiser
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Wise Judgment Scenario 1

Assignment: Wise Judgment Scenario

Vernnetta J. Kiser

PSY/220

February 12, 2012

Mandy Smith
Wise Judgment Scenario 2

A 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.

The first component of wise judgment, factual knowledge about matters in life, includes

knowledge about human nature, interpersonal relationships, and social norms (Bolt, 2004, p. 94).

It can be applied to this scenario by first examining the culture that the girl and boy are raised in.

In this case, I will assume that the teenage couple is raised in the United States. It is common

knowledge that some teenagers are engaging in sexual intercourse; it is not as taboo as it once

was. However, it is still not widely accepted. Considering the age of this young couple,

hormones come into play as much as human curiosity of the opposite sex; the feelings of being

“in love” and wanting to have sex are understandable and normal and the next step that the male

think should be taken is sex. The girl really likes this guy and probably thinks that he is the only

guy for her. She may feel that if she doesn’t give in to his wishes, she may lose him.

The second component of wise judgment, procedural knowledge, suggests that an

individual should have ways of dealing with life’s problems, weighing goals, handling conflict,

and offering advice (Bolt, 2004, p. 94). In this case, I would suggest that the girl take a look at all

the possible outcomes of this situation. She should take a look at the pros of not having sex with

her boyfriend, which should include not risking pregnancy or infection; the cons will probably

include her boyfriend breaking up with her. She should do the same for the option of having sex

with her boyfriend. She should take a look at what she is risking as far as life goals if she decides

to have sex. For example, if she became pregnant, what dreams will she be sacrificing? Once she

has examined everything, she should be better prepared to handle the pressure from her

boyfriend by telling him some of the things that are at risk if she decides to have sex with her. I

would even advise her to do further and ask him hard questions such as if he is ready to become
Wise Judgment Scenario 3

a father and what will he do to provide for the baby. Hopefully, raising real questions will deter

him from pressuring her for sex.

The third component of wise judgment, lifespan contextualism, includes the knowledge

of the different roles and contexts of life (Bolt, 2004, p. 94). The teenage girl is a student, a

girlfriend, a daughter, maybe even a sister. She has many responsibilities to fulfill in these many

roles. She has to focus on school to make sure she can enter college and eventually gain a career.

As a daughter she has the duty to uphold her parent’s rules and expectations. As a sister she has

to be a role model and confidante. Her role as a girlfriend is to be a confidante and later on in life

a lover, but at this point in life, her role as a lover is not as important as her other roles. These

same roles will still be present in her life as she ages but they will take different importance. For

example, when she graduates from college, upholding her parent’s rules and expectations may

fall lower on the list and her duties as a girlfriend will move up and include building a physically

intimate relationship with her partner.

The fourth component of wise judgment, recognition and management of uncertainty,

includes knowing that human knowledge is not limitless, fully knowing the future in advance is

not possible, life is unpredictable, and that there may be no perfect solution to a problem (Bolt,

2004, p. 94). In this scenario, there are too possibilities that can occur to develop a clean, perfect

solution. Knowing this helps to ease the mind when making a decision because there will be no

right or wrong answer, just an answer that suits the teenage girl and her life. She has to take the

possibilities into consideration but she cannot dwell on them as if they are certain to happen just

because she chooses one side of the other. For example, if the girl was to decide to have sex with

her boyfriend, it does not mean that she will become an unwed, single, teenage mother without a

high school diploma and no future. She could in fact be in control of her own sexual health and
Wise Judgment Scenario 4

acquire birth control pills as well as make sure they use condoms every time they have sex; this

is not a fool-proof plan of safe sex but it would drastically reduce the chances of an unplanned

pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection.

The fifth and final component of wise judgment is relativism regarding solutions. This

component consists of the acknowledgement of individual and cultural differences in values and

life priorities (Bolt, 2004, p. 94). The teenage girl’s priorities and values are obviously different

from her boyfriend’s because she has reservation to his suggestion of sex. He states that he will

make sure that they only have “protected” sex so this could mean that he knows that she is

worried about STIs or pregnancy. She can respect his values and life priorities without having to

compromise her own. If her boyfriend truly loves her, he will do the same.

If I was in this situation, the decision that I would make based off the five components of

wise judgment is to not have sex; there is too much uncertainty with the decision to have sex.

The major deciding factors in this decision were the lack of concern for the values and priorities

of the teenage girl, the possibilities of the things that can be loss, and the uncertainty of the

future. I felt that in this situation, the boy did not truly care for the girl because he was pressuring

her to have sex. The proper way that the issue of sex should have been brought up is if they had a

talk about it and discussed how each of them felt about it; not one pressuring the other. Also, if

the boyfriend knew she had reservations, he should have left the subject alone until she was

ready to make a decision one way or the other.

I felt that the teenage girl has to too much to lose. Not only would she lose her virginity

(which could mean a lot to her), she could possibly lose her dreams and goals if an unplanned

pregnancy or STI occurred. They are only teenagers so what type of job could they both get to

support a baby. If her boyfriend leaves her, and her parents kick her out, she is alone with a baby,
Wise Judgment Scenario 5

no high school diploma, homeless, possibly no job, or a minimum wage job. In this economy,

minimum wage does not purchase much. I feel that she can stand by her values and beliefs and

still be a wonderful girlfriend, if her boyfriend cannot respect that, she needs to find someone

that will.
Wise Judgment Scenario 6

Reference

Bolt, M. (2004). Pursuing human strengths: A positive psychology guide. New York: Worth

Publishers.

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