WHOLESOME DEFINITION:being of high moral fiber; having a good influence on others CATEGORIES:identity, interactive, moral SIMILAR ATTRIBUTES:chaste, pure, unblemished, virtuous POSSIBLE CAUSES: Having been sheltered from worldly things A desire to remain pure or innocent Being naturally naïve; not being influenced by things that negatively impact others A religious upbringing ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS: Dressing modestly Having a lighthearted attitude Abstaining from activities that don’t seem right (drinking, swearing, etc.) Being sheltered from or naïve about unwholesome activities Saving oneself for marriage Making wise decisions Having strong willpower and being able to resist temptations Paying attention to the important things and avoiding distractions Not understanding people who are wicked or disobedient Being friendly, kind, and outgoing Feeling righteous about the choices one makes Valuing one’s innocence and purity Being monogamous Accepting people for who they are, without judgment Being family-oriented Passively influencing peers (through one’s example) to make better choices Overtly encouraging friends to do the right thing Exhibiting good manners Smiling and laughing Being optimistic Seeing the good in people Wanting to help others Having high standards and specific expectations for a love match Believing in gender roles and that a man’s duty is to protect a woman Choosing a higher calling that requires lifelong service and purity (e.g. becoming a nun) A desire to pass on one’s moral beliefs to others Offering counseling to those who have lost their way Seeing things simply; not complicating matters Showing respect for authority Following the rules Being responsible Trusting others Acting in an ethical manner Exhibiting self-control and not overindulging Taking a long-term approach to making decisions; keeping the consequences in mind Being subservient; embracing a wholesome lifestyle out of a desire to please ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS: Is this a good decision? What will other people think? If Wanda does this, it will be bad for her. I should stop her. Nancy’s friends are walking a dark path. I don’t want her to be mixed up with them. ASSOCIATED EMOTIONS:confidence, curiosity, happiness, indifference, love, satisfaction, smugness, uncertainty, worry POSITIVE ASPECTS:Wholesome characters aren’t impulsive; they think carefully about their decisions and always try to do the right thing. Their actions often have a positive influence on others, encouraging peers to make better choices. Because their decisions are based on ethics, wholesome characters typically possess other admirable qualities like kindness, generosity, honesty, and respectfulness. NEGATIVE ASPECTS:While parents, teachers, and other authority figures greatly admire wholesomeness as a quality trait, peers of these characters may not be so welcoming. Some can be threatened by upright people, assuming them to be self-righteous or fake, which may prompt the cynics to try and prove that these characters aren’t as virtuous as everyone thinks. Scrutiny like this can create pressure for the wholesome character to always make the right choices and never fall from grace. This can lead to hidden vices and shame when they don’t feel they can open up and be themselves in public. EXAMPLE FROM POP CULTURE:Smack in the middle of the Great Depression, America found a refreshing escape in the singing, dancing, ringleted person of Shirley Temple. Her films, with their wholesome and cherubic characters, were written to inspire hope and optimism in a people living in dark times, and she quickly became America’s sweetheart.Other Examples from TV:John Boy Walton (The Waltons), the Cleaver family (Leave it to Beaver), Mr. Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood) TRAITS IN SUPPORTING CHARACTERS THAT MAY CAUSE CONFLICT:addictive, devious, evil, impulsive, morbid, promiscuous, pushy, rebellious, sleazy, uninhibited CHALLENGING SCENARIOS FOR THE WHOLESOME CHARACTER: PLOTLINE: Living in a society where wholesome decisions are chastised rather than lauded PLOTLINE: Being tempted to indulge in an unwholesome activity PLOTLINE: Becoming confused over what is wholesome and what isn’t PLOTLINE: Having a negative impact on one’s peers despite one’s wholesome behavior PLOTLINE: Having others seek to ruin one’s reputation in any manner they can