Wisdom: Meaning, structure, types, arguments, and future concerns (original) (raw)
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The Science of Wisdom in a Polarized World: Knowns and Unknowns
2020
Interest in wisdom in the cognitive sciences, psychology, and education has been paralleled by conceptual confusions about its nature and assessment. To clarify these issues and promote consensus in the field, wisdom researchers met in Toronto in July of 2019, resolving disputes through discussion. Guided by a survey of scientists who study wisdom-related constructs, we established a common wisdom model, observing that empirical approaches to wisdom converge on the morally-grounded application of metacognition to reasoning and problem-solving. After outlining the function of relevant metacognitive and moral processes, we critically evaluate existing empirical approaches to measurement and offer recommendations for best practices. In the subsequent sections, we use the common wisdom model to selectively review evidence about the role of individual differences for development and manifestation of wisdom, approaches to wisdom development and training, as well as cultural, subcultural, ...
An empirical approach to wisdom processes
2017
In psychology, wisdom gradually received more and more interest form researchers. The first who have directed their attention to this area were the Greek philosophers, but gradually theoretical models were developed based on empirical data and components that explain the development of wisdom. In this paper, we used Ardelt's approach, which takes into account both the eastern and western approaches regarding wisdom. Within a sample of students (N = 100, mean age = 24 m, SD = 6.44), wisdom was investigated in relation to several phenomena that could be involved in the development of wisdom and wisdom processes. Thus, wisdom is studied in relation to general metacognition, moral metacognition, cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, irrationality and cognitive flexibility. The results were found to be in accordance with the hypothesis of affective empathy, identifying a significant positive relationship between the two variables. One must consider that the rest of the correlations w...
A cross-comparative international study on the concept of wisdom
Gifted Education International, 2013
The article aims to depict the most common ideas regarding wisdom from young people across different countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Republic of Korea and the United States. A questionnaire was administered to nearly 800 adolescents from these countries and comparisons by country and gender were made regarding participants' perceptions of a wise man and a wise woman. Although differences were found between countries, more consistent differences by gender were reported. From a global perspective, factor analysis established three major traits to describe wise people: charismatic, goal oriented and unconventional. Also, participants consistently excluded a person from the concept
Human Development, 2004
Paul B. Baltes and his colleagues, who are among the most prominent contemporary wisdom researchers, define wisdom as ‘expert knowledge in the domain fundamental pragmatics of life.’ By contrast, this article argues that the definition, operationalization, and measurement of wisdom should not be reduced to expertise and that the term wisdom should be reserved for wise persons rather than expert knowledge. In fact, evidence from their research confirms that Baltes et al. primarily assess expert or intellectual knowledge in the wisdom domain ‘fundamental pragmatics of life’ rather than how wise people are. As an alternative, a model of wisdom is presented that defines, operationalizes, and measures wisdom as an integration of cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2016
Implicit theory researchers examine how everyday people conceptualize wisdom, to reveal their subjective understanding of what wisdom entails. Because laypersons come to understand wisdom through social participation rather than through formal study, implicit wisdom theories differ dramatically across cultures (e.g., Takahashi & Bordia, 2000) and subcultures (e.g., Sternberg, 1985), and even from person to person, depending on characteristics such as sex, age, and level of education (Glück & Bluck, 2011). Exploring the diversity and determinants of implicit wisdom theories remains an important task for wisdom researchers. Popular Methods for Investigating Implicit Wisdom Theories Bluck and Glück (2005; see also Staudinger & Glück, 2011) identified three overarching scientific approaches to examining implicit theories of wisdom: descriptor-rating, personbased, and experimental methods. Most implicit theory research follows the first approach, which asks individuals to rate, rank, or sort adjectives or short statements potentially indicative of wisdom (e.g.
Some folk beliefs characterize wisdom as an essence – a set of immutable characteristics, developing as a consequence of an innate potential and extraordinary life experiences. Emerging empirical scholarship involving experiments, diary and cross-cultural studies contradicts such folk beliefs. Characteristics of wise thinking, which include intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty and change, consideration of different perspectives and integration of these perspectives, is highly variable across situations. Cumulatively, empirical research suggests that variability in wise thinking is systematic, with greater wisdom in ecological and experimentally-induced contexts promoting an ego-decentered (vs. egocentric) viewpoint. Moreover, teaching for wisdom benefits from appreciation of context-dependency of intentions and actions depicted in the narratives of wisdom exemplars’ lives. I conclude by advancing a constructivist model of wisdom, suggesting that cultural-historical, personal-motivational, and situational contexts play a critical role for wisdom, its development and its application in daily life.
Wisdom as an Embodied and Embedded Process
5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium - Proceedings of Presented Papers (Edited by Genevieve M. Cseh). , 2019
In recent years, the psychological study of wisdom has begun in earnest. Numerous studies are casting light onto the nature of wisdom and its development. Whilst wisdom is often seen as the pinnacle of human development beyond the reach of most people, recent findings are suggesting that access to wise thinking may be more variable than previously thought. Insights into situational factors that could nudge individuals towards wiser reasoning are emerging and the importance of meaning-making, emotions and social interactions are being highlighted. At the same time, the psychological study of wisdom has generated over 24 different definitions of wisdom. Using a qualitative analysis approach, an integrative review of the literature was conducted. Six themes were identified that not only synthesise multiple perspectives on wisdom, but also offer an integrative model of wisdom as an embodied and embedded process. It is argued that wisdom may emerge and develop in the combination of and interaction between individual resources, situational contexts, cognitive processing and embodied actions, which are supported through individual and collective meaning making – a synergistic, dynamic process through which enhanced levels of wisdom may be realised, leading to wiser individuals and wiser societies.
The article aims to depict the most common ideas regarding wisdom from young people across different countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Republic of Korea and the United States. A questionnaire was administered to nearly 800 adolescents from these countries and comparisons by country and gender were made regarding participants' perceptions of a wise man and a wise woman. Although differences were found between countries, more consistent differences by gender were reported. From a global perspective, factor analysis established three major traits to describe wise people: charismatic, goal oriented and unconventional. Also, participants consistently excluded a person from the concept Corresponding author: Pedro Sánchez-Escobedo, Universidad Autó noma de Yucatán, México, calle 39A n. 376 x 28 y 30. Frac. Downloaded from of wise if they were poor, pessimistic, naïve or inconsistent. Results indicate a lack of values attached to the description of wisdom and it is argued that schools should foster the development of conceptions of wisdom as a desirable stage in human development that includes values such as justice, equity and respect for others. Difficulties in international comparative research are discussed.
On Defining “Wisdom”: Baltes, Ardelt, Ryan, and Whitehead
Interchange, 2011
Wisdom has been a topic of religion and philosophy since the dawning of human civilization. But only during the last two or three decades wisdom has become a topic of empirical research in developmental psychology, adult and old age education, as well as in management and leadership studies. The aim of this paper is to elaborate a new definition of "wisdom," in order to provide a more adequate foundation for empirical wisdom research. To reach this goal, two empirical wisdom theories (Baltes and Ardelt) and two philosophical wisdom approaches (Ryan and Whitehead) are presented, discussed, compared, and synthesized. The results show that despite the fact that Baltes' definition of "wisdom" is somewhat wider than Ardelt's, their approaches have many aspects in common. Additionally, also Whitehead's ideas on wisdom are quite similar to Baltes' core criteria concerning wisdom-related knowledge, but Whitehead mentions two additional aspects which go beyond Baltes' approach. Further, according to Ryan, wise persons must have very few unjustified beliefs; this necessary condition for a wise person is neither mentioned by Baltes, nor by Ardelt or Whitehead. Based on the ideas of these four approaches, a new definition of "wisdom" is presented, in which wisdom is relativised to time indices and moral systems. This definition consists of a cognitive, an ethical, and a reflective component. Further it is shown that Fischer's and Dawson's Lectical Assessment System is a major candidate for measuring wisdom on the basis of our new definition.
The Multi-dimensional Character of Wisdom
Wise Management in Organisational Complexity, 2013
The mission of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is to educate responsible leaders versed in 'China Depth, Global Breadth'. The CEIBS Euro-China Centre for Leadership and Responsibility (ECCLAR) supports that mission by creating and disseminating knowledge on the practice and development of wise and responsible leadership especially in the corporate context. This collection of essays furthers that mission in providing a resource of wise praxis and reflection in the context of organisational complexity for managers, researchers and teachers in management education. Interest in wisdom as a topic for research has been growing across the disciplines of organisational studies, leadership studies, philosophy, psychology and ethics. Blanchard-Fields and Norris (1995, p. 105) note that 'wisdom has been legitimatised in the science of psychology by operationalising it into a knowledge system framework, i.e., borrowing from an established scientific approach'. Psychological theorists have posited that wisdom is a multidimensional construct characterised by cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions that develop increasing integration over time; included in this latter process is the often painstaking effort at integrating opposing self-schemes and reflecting on the experiences of self and other (Kramer, 2000). Scholarly attention to wisdom in management is, according to Mick, Bateman and Lutz (2009), either strictly conceptual, oriented solely toward the management field or focused on organisational level analysis (not individuals and their decision-making or behaviours). In the field of leadership studies, McKenna, Rooney and Kimberley (2009) have led the way in arguing for an augmentation of existing leadership models with the wisdom dimension. They argue that