Temperance (virtue) - Controversies and Future Directions

Controversies and Future Directions

For forgiveness, more reliable measures are needed, and longitudinal studies are needed in order to support the claim about forgiveness varying as a function of age, and also to study temporal variation in forgiveness. More studies on the social aspects of forgiveness should be done to ascertain how forgiveness affects social groups in families or communities. In addition, little is known about the actual process of forgiveness - what goes on cognitively and emotionally when someone forgives? Finally, perhaps most "hot topic" with regards to forgiveness is the notion that forgiveness may be associated with health benefits (preventative and curative) and well-being. Thus far, there have been only a few studies with weak designs on this topic, so stronger studies need to explore this idea. One promising study by Witvliet, Ludwig, and Vander Laan's (2001) showed that "forgiveness can influence short-term markers for sympathetic nervous system arousal."

For humility, much more research must be done. Diverging opinions on what exactly humility is have prevented studies from being reliable, and a consensus needs to be reached on its definition, as contrasted with modesty. In addition, the question of what positive traits humility exhibits (apart from the absence of negative ones). The question of how humility looks across the lifespan should be asked. And finally, the question of whether humility can be developed in an individual, and how (through interventions etc.) should be addressed.

For prudence, general research is very much needed, as there is basically none on prudence specifically as a construct (only related ones such as conscientiousness).

For self-regulation, it is still unclear whether it can be taught. A central question to be asked is what kind of interventions, if any, can be done, especially on the part of parenting techniques. It is unclear whether any genetic, environmental, or other factors have any influence on the development of self-regulation, but these areas would be very worthwhile to explore, considering the many benefits of this strength. In general temperance appears to be the lowest-scoring area out of all the virtues on the VIA survey, suggesting that it is a weakness across individuals. Perhaps this explains why the research is so lacking thus far. Given the many benefits of temperance (which should be further explored) and its potential to enable the psychological good life, exploring it further should prove to be an important endeavor.