Lesson 27: Integrity
Attention
Consider this graphic when you are completing the Lesson Assessment below.
Actions you may be doing now that align your values lead to integrity now and in late life.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:
- Identify life choices that lead to increased chance of Integrity in late life
Teaching
Read Chapter 6 in Vaillant
Theory of Self
As we age our "true", "public", and "ideal" sense of SELF become more and more aligned
One form of "integrity" is when each of these "selves" is integrated into a single identity. This comes about as we modify our public and ideal self to more closely match our true self (which we have been working on all along to match the other two)
Integrity vs. Despair
I have always been a very big fan of Erikson's theory of human development.
In Erikson's theory he posits that each stage is a dicotomy...something vs. somthing else...we all know the stages: Trust vs Mistrust, etc.
To know Integrity is to know its oppostive, Despair. I believe that Integrity is to have wrapped together the strands of your life into a tapestry that gives your entire life a "picture" or "meaning" and a deep acknowledgement that it really could not have been any other way and still have yielded the same picture. As Vaillant says, you might not have got what you wanted , but Integrity is the next best thing!
To be in Despair is to lack this picture...to fill your mind with regrets of what threads COULD have been sewn into the fabric of your life.
How we live our lives today impacts how we will approach this stage in our lives...in essence, Integrity is the "bed" that we made and we will have to sleep in it.
I liked this online document which gives you some suggestions on how to Develop Personal Integrity.
Assessment
Lessson 27 Quiz
- Identify one lifestyle choice that you have made that you feel will increase the likelihood of you having integrity in late life.